Owensboro

Owensboro. . Once the intersection of two competing railroads, the South Florida Railroad (part of the Plant System, later Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, built in 1884-85) and the Florida Railway and Navigation Company (later the Florida Central and Peninsular Railway and eventually Seaboard Air Line Railway) crossed here in 1887. A school existed here, as did a post office from 1886 to 1899 and 1902 to 1906. , Lutz Brothers Shingle Mill was located nearby, ca. 1895. With the discovery of clay deposits, a brickyard and kiln began operating about 1907, making bricks which sold at six dollars per thousand. Micker and McLeod quarried rock and crushed limestone in the 1920s. , Until the advent of modern rail technology, a two-story frame switching station was located at the intersection of the two railroads. An overpass was built over the switching station and rails in 1948-49 when the federal highway was re-aligned. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (now CSX Transportation) and removed the Atlantic Coast Line tracks in the late 1980s, resulting in the demolition of the overpass. , In 1989 the Senate of Florida acquired the former rail right-of-way and developed the Withlacoochee State Trail as a linear recreational greenway. Owensboro became its southern terminus.