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December, 2017 The Antique Shoppe Page 17
Florida’s Forgotten Roadway...
The Woodpecker Route
A Journey From Macclenny to St. Petersburg
by Richard Stanley Farneski
America’s love affair with traveling began in 1913 when Henry
Ford revolutionized the automobile manufacturing process with the
assembly line. Ford’s ability to turn out more automobiles, enabled
more American’s to travel.
Since then, individuals and families have taken to the road to visit
and explore the United States. This new-found accessibility to other
parts of the country prompted many to head South to Florida.
With the increase in automobiles traversing the landscape, it
would be years
before highways
and byways would
see a significant
upgrades and
expansion. With
travelers heading
South from the
Northeast and
New England,
they would find
themselves upon
a unique roadway,
the Woodpecker
Route.
The Woodpecker
Route is one of the
oldest motoring
routes in the
country. It funneled
travelers into South Carolina then onto Florida,
beginning just after the end of World War I in 1919.
In 1922, as automobile travel flourished, the
Automobile Legal Association’s Automobile Green
Book listed the woodpecker Route as a viable way
to Florida. The 1922 publication described the
route as being from “Augusta, Georgia to Lake City
and Jacksonville, Florida.”
The route was just that, the Woodpecker Route.
It didn’t have a number assigned to it. The route
started in Greenville South Carolina and ended
in Saint Petersburg, Florida. For residents of New
England and the Northeast, the Woodpecker Route
was the “Gateway to Florida.”
Instead of bypassing Southern towns, as the
Interstate system does today, the Woodpecker Route went right
through the heart of them. It allowed travelers to come into contact
with the Southern lifestyle and Americana. No 24-hour rest stops or
fast food restaurants, just real towns and real people.
What Woodpecker Route travelers found were quaint Mom & Pop
motels, home cooked meal restaurants and filling stations with the
attendant sitting out front. Many remnants remain of a bygone era.
Old style gas pumps, showing their faded legendary oil company
logos, and abandoned restaurants and motels dot the Woodpecker
Route. Why the name, the Woodpecker Route? Woodpeckers were in
abundance along the entire route.
The Woodpecker Route, State Highway 121, in Florida went
through Macclenny, Lake Butler, Worthington Springs, La Crosse,
Gainesville, Williston, Lebanon Station, Crystal River, Tarpon
Springs, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. Prior to 1960, the majority
of the Woodpecker Route in Florida, aside from the small towns
was pine forests, churches, orange groves, cemeteries and grazing
pastures. Travelers would enjoy a peaceful journey all the way
from Gainesville down to Saint Petersburg. Much of the single lane
highway was asphalt paved, with some sections poured in concrete.
Northern visitors were entering a whole new world with their visit
to the Sunshine State. Warm weather, orange groves, the Tarpon
Spring Sponge Docks and the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters were
alluring and tempted many not to return home.
The artistic and colorful official logo sign of the Woodpecker
Route is popular with art collectors, antique
aficionados, interior decorators and those
interested in birds. Retracing the original
Woodpecker Route in Florida will take you back to
a simpler time in Florida history.
Once they passed through the towns, travelers
were treated to many roadside billboards and
roadway signs. There wasn’t much in terms
of regulations and standards when it came to
roadway signs in the first 30 years of the 20th
century. Most communities named their in-town
streets, but once outside the city limits, road
signs were lacking with beneficial information.
Back then, numbered routes and posted speed
limits were unheard of. Drivers were expected
to travel with common sense and usually asked
for directions, as road maps weren’t readily
accessible.
With more automobiles taking to the roads and
traveling farther, communities
created their own road signs to
inform travelers and slow their
speed. This was evident at railroad
crossings, intersections and curves.
Not only did communities place
their own signs, commercial
roadway advertising came into
prominence.
Goodyear Tires, Standard Oil
and local businesses often placed
signs with their logo along side
directional information and safety
messages.
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