One hundred years ago, Henry Flagler dreamed up and built an historic “railroad that went to sea,” in Florida. The steel and concrete railroad ran down Florida’s eastern coastline and opened mainland Florida and its small string of islands or “Keys” up to the rest of the United States until 1935 when a hurricane washed away miles of track.
After the storm, the State of Florida bought Flagler's railroad and converted it into an automotive bridge. It remained the only route connecting Miami to Key West until 1982, when a new bridge opened. Floridians now use a 2.2 mile open section of Old Seven Mile Bridge as a biking and walking path (a gap – photo above by @mathewclayfreeman – in the Old Seven Mile Bridge just south of Pigeon Key prevents visitors from reaching the other section). To see more photos of Old Seven, tap the location text above this photo.