In the late 1800’s Dade County was huge. It included present day Martin, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Miami was then known as Fort Dallas and was the county seat. That changed in 1889 when the county seat and courthouse was moved to Juno. Officials needed to travel back and forth from Miami to Juno but the only available transportation was on the water by steamer or sailboat. Mail was carried overland by barefoot mailmen walking on the beach but that was time consuming and dangerous. One mailman disappeared, most likely eaten by an alligator or shark, while crossing one of the many rivers and inlets that he had to navigate.
A more reliable way was needed for people and mail to reach Miami. In 1892, an 8-foot wide sand road, just the right size for a mule wagon, was authorized for construction by the Dade County Commission between the south end of Lake Worth and the north end of Biscayne Bay. This road started in the vicinity of present-day Hypoluxo and ended at Lemon City in present-day Miami. There is not an accurate map of the exact route that the Sand Road took, but it is believed that large parts of it became the Dixie Highway and U.S. 1.
This was no speedy form of travel. The speed was a slow pace of about 2-3 miles per hour because of the soft white sand. At that rate it was a two-day trip to Miami, but was still quicker than walking the beaches. Bridges were built over smaller waterways such as the Hillsboro River. It took 14 hours to travel from Hypoluxo to the New River in Fort Lauderdale. Once you reached there, you camped in tents near the Stranahan House. The next day you would cross the river by boat, then enjoy another seven hour ride to Miami.
The road was built along the natural sand ridge called the coastal scrub which is adjacent to the barrier islands on the peninsula. This ridge is the remains of an ancient seashore built up when sea levels were higher. Its stable substrate and good drainage provide dry conditions and low risk of flooding which make scrub sites attractive for residential and commercial development. The Hypoluxo Scrub Natural Area was destined for development several times during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. It is estimated that there is less than 2% of scrub habitat remaining in Palm Beach County.
You can actually walk the only remaining portion of the Sand Road that is still sand. The northernmost portion of the Sand Road is located within the Hypoluxo Scrub Natural Area. This land was never built on and only has had some light agricultural use over the years. Today, the returning vegetation is reclaiming the road, but service vehicles in the park still use the road. Take a walk through the Hypoluxo Scrub area and experience for yourself the road of a bygone era. The Park is open sunup to sundown seven days a week and admission is free.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
We encourage you (not required) to take a picture of yourself and/or caching team and post it on this cache page. To log this earthcache as a find, you must email the answers to the following questions to the cache owner:
1) Which native plant do you see thriving here that you wouldn't expect to see in wetter habitats.
2) Which two present day roads follow the same route as the old Sand Road?
3) Why did they build the road on scrub land?
4) How was scrub land formed?
