The Overseas Highway is the southern section of the U.S. Highway 1 in Florida. It connects 40 islands in the Florida Keys over a total of 205 kilometers and runs from Homestead via Key Largo and Marathon to Key West. As the only land connection between the Keys and the mainland, it is also the only escape route in the event of a hurricane.
The Overseas Highway has an interesting history. The first road connection opened in 1928 and did not provide a continuous connection to Key West. This was only possible via the railway bridges of the Florida East Coast Railway, which opened a connection to Key West with the Overseas Railroad in 1912. After the railway line was destroyed in the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, the railway company sold the bridges and land to the state. The State then built the continuous Overseas Highway, partly the roadway was set on the old railway bridges as with the Old Bahia Honda Bridge. The continuous Overseas Highway, which was still a toll route at the time, was opened in 1938. In the 1970s, the old bridges were gradually replaced by new, larger concrete bridges, the most famous of which is the Seven Mile Bridge. The Overseas Highway bridges have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. The longest bridge is the famous Seven Mile Bridge.
Photos
Map