Background In the late 1800s, phosphate rock was discovered on the banks of the Peace River southwest of
Arcadia. Shortly after, the Peace River Phosphate Company and other companies began phosphate mining operations in the area. The Peace River Phosphate Company built a narrow-gauge railroad along the banks of the river between Arcadia and
Liverpool, just south of
Fort Ogden. The phosphate industry led to Liverpool quickly becoming a phosphate mining town. A dock on the Peace River in Liverpool allowed for loading phosphate from rail cars on to barges for shipping. In Arcadia, the Peace River Phosphate Company's railroad connected with the
Florida Southern Railway. This allowed for some phosphate to be interchanged to the Florida Southern, who then transported it south to Punta Gorda to be loaded onto vessels at the Long Dock. The Florida Southern Railway converted its line to standard gauge in 1892, and the Peace River Phosphate Company also converted its line to standard gauge at the same time. The company identified Boca Grande Pass, a natural deepwater inlet at the south end of
Gasparilla Island, as the perfect place for a deepwater port. The AACC, under Bradley's direction, then acquired the charter of the unbuilt
Alafia, Manatee, and Gulf Coast Railroad, which had been chartered in 1897 with the authority to built a railroad from
Plant City to
Charlotte Harbor. After gaining the charter, Bradley changed its name to the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway.
Construction and early years In 1905, construction began on the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway from the port on
Gasparilla Island to
Fort Ogden. From Fort Ogden north to Arcadia, the Charlotte Harbor and Northern incorporated the pre-existing railroad built by the Peace River Phosphate Company with track south of Fort Ogden to Liverpool becoming a branch line. To connect Gasparilla Island to the mainland, a two-mile long causeway consisting of three trestles was built over Gasparilla Sound. The trestles contained two steel swing spans built by Virginia Iron Works to accommodate vessel traffic. Another major trestle was built over the Myakka River near Southland (later renamed
El Jobean). Company repair shops were built in Arcadia. In addition to penetrating more phosphate-rich regions of the state, the extension provided a shorter route for passenger trains traveling between Boca Grande and Tampa. Just north of Bradley Junction was Pierce, a phosphate town run by the AACC. By then, Pierce was served by a spur of the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's
Bone Valley Branch. In early 1911, the Charlotte Harbor and Northern was extended north from Bradley Junction to Pierce, providing a direct connection to the town. By the end of 1911, the Charlotte Harbor and Northern was extended one last time to Mulberry. The extension ran beside the Atlantic Coast Line's spur before crossing their Bone Valley Branch at Bruce (later known as Achan). It then proceeded north to Mulberry, where it terminated at a connection with the Seaboard Air Line's route that would later be known as their
Valrico Subdivision. From 1913 to 1952, the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway operated a
creosote treatment facility in
Hull on the site of the former phosphate plant. Some railroad ties and timbers produced from this facility were used to maintain the railroad and its infrastructure while others were sold to other railroads.
The Legend of José Gaspar In the early 1900s, the Railway produced an advertising brochure for its Gasparilla Inn near the end of the line on
Gasparilla Island that claimed that the area was once home to
José Gaspar, a renegade Spanish pirate who was supposedly based in Charlotte Harbor when
Florida was still Spanish territory. The brochure claimed that Gaspar had been the most feared buccaneer of his generation during his 40-year career spent ravaging shipping and taking hostages across the Gulf of Mexico to the
Spanish Main, that he named most of the islands in the Charlotte Harbor area, and had left an as-yet undiscovered treasure cache in the vicinity of the Gasparilla Inn upon his dramatic death in battle. The tale was unsupported by any evidence, and Pat Lemoyne, the publicist who wrote it, freely admitted in later years that "there was not a true fact in it" and that it was simply an advertisement written in the style of a romantic adventure to attract the attention of tourists. Still, the colorful legend of Gaspar presented in the brochure helped inspire the annual
Gasparilla Pirate Festival in nearby
Tampa and has led to ongoing confusion as to Gaspar's historic authenticity.
1925-1967: Seaboard Air Line ownership In 1925, the line was leased by the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad, who then fully purchased the line from the American Agricultural Chemicals Company a year later. This gave Seaboard direct access to the Boca Grande port. Almost immediately after the purchase, Seaboard began construction of its
Fort Myers Subdivision, which branched off the line at Hull (near
Fort Ogden) and ran south to
Fort Myers and
Naples. That route was completed in 1927 but was abandoned by 1952. The line became part of the Seaboard Air Line's Agricola Subdivision (later renamed the
Achan Subdivision) north of Bradley Junction and the
Boca Grande Subdivision south of there. Seaboard continued to provided service on the line to both Boca Grande as well as to Fort Myers and Naples when the Fort Myers Subdivision was active. By 1940, two daily local passenger trains were running the line to Boca Grande. Passenger service to Boca Grande was discontinued in 1958 shortly after the opening of the
Boca Grande Causeway, which was the last passenger service to ever operate on the line.
Later years The Seaboard Air Line Railroad merged with the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1967. The merged company became the
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Increased competition from the Rockport Terminal in the Tampa Bay area led to the closure of the Boca Grande Port in 1979. Due to the closure of the port, the Seaboard Coast Line (which was in the process of being merged into
CSX Transportation at the time) abandoned and removed the line from the port to just south of Arcadia in 1981. ==Current conditions==