Crossroads at Casey Key: The Future of a Florida Icon

If you’ve ever crossed the narrow one-lane bridge to Casey Key, idling while a boat passes, you’ve been to Blackburn Point Bridge. Built in 1926, this steel swing bridge has carried nearly a century’s worth of traffic. But soon, that daily rhythm may change. Sarasota County is in the early design phase of replacing the bridge, citing age, corrosion, and safety concerns. While the new structure will likely include pedestrian lanes and enough clearance to reduce the need for openings, it marks the beginning of the end for a rare mechanical relic.

Blackburn Point isn’t just functional, it’s historic. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, it’s the only swing bridge still operating in Sarasota County. Its pivoting design reflects an era when Florida’s communities were more waterbound than landlinked, and getting around meant respecting the tides as much as the clock.

And it’s not alone. Across Tampa Bay and beyond, a handful of other swing bridges once served, and in some cases, still serve, the same purpose: connecting people and places across Florida’s watery geography. Here are a few of Blackburn Point’s kindred spans: 

• Snead Island Swing Bridge, Palmetto – Long before there was a fixed bridge, folks reached Snead Island by cable ferry, unless they arrived late. The ferry operator, Lonnie Campbell, was known to wave mockingly from the far shore if you weren’t punctual. In 1920, the old Davis Toll Bridge (which had once connected Palmetto and Bradenton) was disassembled and rebuilt as a swing bridge over the Cut-Off channel separating Snead Island from the mainland. Later, the bridge was replaced with a wooden humpback span, and today a concrete bridge carries traffic across the Cut-Off, according to, “Sunday Favorites: The Cut-Off Welcoming Crew,” 2019.
  
  
• Davis Islands Swing Bridge, Tampa – As Tampa expanded in the 1920s, developers turned two manmade islands into a neighborhood. The swing bridge to Davis Islands was key to the plan, linking the new development to downtown. It helped establish Davis Islands as a high-end residential area, and while the original bridge is long gone, its role in shaping Tampa’s waterfront can still be seen in the Mediterranean Revival homes that line the shore, according to Tampa Magazine.
  
  
• Columbus Drive Swing Bridge, Tampa – Still operational today, the 1926 Columbus Drive Bridge is a bobtail swing design, meaning it rotates around a central pivot but is asymmetrical in length. The structure earned historic designation in 2006, not just for its design but for the role it played in Tampa’s growing infrastructure, according to HistoricBridges.org.
  
  
• Lafayette Street Bridge (now Kennedy Boulevard Bridge), Tampa – Completed in 1889, this swing bridge featured a 215-foot center span that pivoted to allow steamboats to pass on the Hillsborough River. While not commissioned by Henry Plant, it was funded by the Tampa Board of Trade to improve access across the river and played a crucial supporting role in the success of Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel, which opened in 1891 just west of the bridge. According to "Tampa’s Lafayette Street Bridge: Building a New South City," the bridge became a vital link between downtown Tampa and its expanding western frontier.
  
  
• Boca Grande Swing Bridge, Charlotte County – South of Tampa Bay, this bridge opened in 1958 to connect Gasparilla Island to the mainland. It was replaced in 2015, but the swing function was preserved to accommodate ongoing boat traffic, a nod to tradition amid modernization.
  
  

Each of these bridges, like Blackburn Point, represents more than steel and rivets. They tell the story of Florida’s evolution, from sail to rail, ferry to freeway. They remind us of a time when travel was measured in patience, not speed, and when even a short crossing could carry the weight of a community’s commerce, culture, and daily life.

As Sarasota County eyes the future, it’s worth tipping our hats to these turning bridges and what they’ve meant to generations past. So next time you’re stuck in traffic, waiting your turn, take a moment to picture the steamers that once chugged past, the citrus-laden wagons heading out to market, and the islanders shouting for Lonnie Campbell to come back and get them. You’re not just crossing a bridge, you’re crossing history.