Tom Adams Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 26°56′03.80″N82°021′11.10″W / 26.9343889°N 82.3530833°W |
Carries | ![]() |
Crosses | Lemon Bay |
Locale | Englewood, Florida |
Maintained by | Charlotte County Public Works |
Characteristics | |
Design | Concrete bridge with bascule span |
Clearance above | 20 feet (6.1 m) |
History | |
Opened | Original bridge: 1927 Current Bridge: 1965 |
Statistics | |
Toll | None |
Location | |
![]() |
The Tom Adams Bridge is a bridge in northern Charlotte County, Florida. It is a double-leaf bascule bridge that carries Beach Road (CR 776) from the mainland in Englewood to Sandpiper Key with another bridge connecting the route to Manasota Key. The bridge is named for Thomas Burton Adams Jr., who served as Secretary of State of Florida and Lieutenant Governor. [1] The Tom Adams Bridge is one of two bridge crossings providing access to Manasota Key, with the other crossing existing further north in Sarasota County.
The first set of bridges at the site connecting Englewood to Manasota Key via Sandpiper Key were built privately by the Chadwick family in 1927. The Chadwick family, who owned large amounts of property on Manasota Key, charged a 50 cent toll to cross the bridge. [2] The bridges later came under control of Charlotte County in the 1930s. [3]
By the late 1940s, the original east bridge was in bad condition. The bridge was rebuilt in the early 1950s largely using the same pilings. The reconstruction was complete in 1952, and the bridge was officially named the Leo Wotitzky Bridge. [3] It was named after Florida Congressman Leo Wotitzky, who lobbied for the reconstruction of the bridge. [2]
The current Tom Adams Bridge was built in 1965. [4] The bridge included a drawbridge because Lemon Bay had since become part of the Intracoastal Waterway. [3]
After the Tom Adams Bridge opened, Charlotte County Commissioner Bill Anger successfully lobbied to keep parts of the previous bridge as fishing piers. Though in the 1980s, the piers were closed due to deterioration, and a new pier was built on the same footprint on the east side. [5] The pier is named for Bill Anger. [6] Some of the former bridge's pilings can still be seen in the water near the bridge and pier.
The bridge connecting Sandpiper Key to Manasota Key was replaced with the current structure in 1980. This bridge is officially named the Swepson Bridge after the founder of the Lemon Bay Conservancy. [3]
The Tom Adams Bridge was heavily rehabilitated in 2018, which included the construction of a new bridge tender house along with other improvements. [7]
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, FL metropolitan statistical area.
Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800, up from 14,863 at the 2010 census. It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Grove City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,174 at the 2020 census, up from 1,804 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the North Port-Bradenton, Florida Combined Statistical Area.
Manasota Key is a census-designated place (CDP) consisting mainly of the community of Englewood Beach in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population of the CDP was 1,326 at the 2020 census, up from 1,229 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the North Port-Bradenton, Florida Combined Statistical Area.
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway, or simply "the Skyway", is a pair of long beam bridges with a central tall cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County to Manatee County. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company. The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay. The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll bridge, with a toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction at a rate of $1.75 cash or $1.16 with the state's SunPass system.
State Road 777 and County Road 777 are together a 13.5-mile-long (21.7 km) route near Englewood and North Port, Florida, United States. The route is locally known as East Dearborn Street in Englewood and River Road from Englewood north to Interstate 75 (I-75). The route is county controlled south of the Tamiami Trail, and is SR 777 from there north to I-75.
State Road 776 (SR 776) is a 25-mile-long (40 km) state highway serving southern Sarasota County and northwestern Charlotte County, Florida. It acts as a loop road of U.S. Route 41 (US 41) that bypasses North Port.
Lemon Bay High School (LBHS) is a public high school located in Englewood, Florida, USA. It serves grades nine to twelve and is operated by Charlotte County Public Schools.
The Hermitage–Whitney Historic District is a U.S. historic district.
Manasota is an unincorporated community in Sarasota County, Florida, United States, located on the mainland south of Venice. The Manasota Bridge crosses Lemon Bay, connecting Manasota to Manasota Beach and Manasota Key. It is home to a United States Postal Service processing and distribution center for Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Anna Maria Island is a barrier island on the coast of Manatee County, Florida, in the United States. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by Longboat Pass, on the east by Anna Maria Sound, and on the north by Tampa Bay. Anna Maria Island is approximately 7 miles (11 km) long north to south.
The Chadwick Beach cotton mouse is a presumably extinct subspecies of the cotton mouse. It was confined to a small area on the Manasota Key Peninsula in Florida.
The Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP) is a land acquisition program in Sarasota County, Florida dedicated to acquiring and preserving the natural Florida habitat within the county.
The Barron Collier Bridge is a bridge in Charlotte County, Florida that crosses the Peace River connecting Punta Gorda, Florida and Port Charlotte, Florida. It is 45 feet tall and carries two northbound lanes of U.S. Route 41. The southbound lanes cross the river on the adjacent Gilchrist Bridge. It was named for Barron G. Collier, a wealthy Southwest Florida land owner and entrepreneur.
The Manasota Scrub Preserve is an area of protected land in Sarasota County, Florida. It is located at 2695 Bridge Street in Englewood, Florida, in a suburban area that is part of the Lemon Bay watershed.
Lemon Bay is a long, narrow and shallow body of water covering 8,000 acres in Charlotte County, Florida and Sarasota County, Florida. It is protected as the Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve, designated in 1986. It is one of five Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves. The bay is fed by one Gulf pass, Stump Pass, and seven tributaries and includes areas of mangrove, marsh grass, and seagrass. It provides habitat for bird, invertebrate and fish species and offers fishing, kayaking, birding, wading and beachcombing opportunities.
John Ringling Causeway is a causeway that extends past the Sarasota Bay, from Sarasota to St. Armands Key and Lido Key. The 65-foot-tall (20 m) bridge, built in 2003, is a segmental box girder bridge running from Sarasota to Bird Key. Another short bridge carries the causeway from Bird Key to Coon Key and St. Armand's Key. The causeway is named after John Ringling, one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus and resident of the Sarasota area.
The Myakkahatchee Creek Archaeological Site (8SO397) is located in North Port in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The site was discovered when the area was being prepared for housing in 1982. Crews building Cold Springs Lane and Reiterstown Road unearthed artifacts and human remains. Archaeologists discovered a rare inland multi-period Manasota Indian village near the Myakkahatchee Creek, a major transportation route from the Gulf of Mexico inland. What makes the site so rare is that evidence of 10,000 years of occupation was excavated and very little is known about inland villages. The Manasota people remained permanently settled as fishing–hunter–gatherers between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Culturally, they were the northernmost of the Glades south Florida culture region. Archaeologists found a large midden, as well as a large U-shaped ritual earthwork with a burial mound. The area has yet to be professionally excavated. The creek is now part of North Ports Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.