Brick Road

Brick Road. . Paved in brick, this stretch of State Road 22 evokes a brief but important era in Florida transportation. As the nation swapped horses for automobiles, states struggled to update their roadways; here in Florida, narrow car tires had turned roads of clay and crushed shells into rutted messes. Brick pavers promised a permanent solution and, after a 1913 bond approval, Orange County set out to install miles of modern brick highways., Opened in 1915, the Winter Garden Road was originally only nine feet wide. Boasting a speed limit of 30mph, it zig-zagged a path through West Orange County citrus groves. Following the "fruit loop" from its western terminus in Oakland back east through Tildenville, Winter Garden, Ocoee, Orlo Vista and into Orlando via Washington Street took motorists nearly an hour., As durable as they were uncomfortable, many were soon paved over with smoother compounds like "macadam," an early form of asphalt. As a result, few stretches of Florida's brick highway system remain. Today, this 0.6-mile long Brick Road preserves a formative stop on Orange County's path to becoming a world-renowned destination.