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| Weaver's Station, looking south (watercolor pencil). |
It feels good to be back after my break – and I thank you for your
patience. I’d like to catch you up on
where we sketched last spring in the Fakahatchee area, starting with our
February outing.
For our Saturday meeting in February, our group met on the south side
of the Tamiami Trail across from the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk.
Participants sketched both sides of the road: along the boardwalk to the
north, and scattered throughout a clearing to the south.
The area on the south side is historically known as Weaver’s Station, once
the site of one of six “comfort stations” completed in 1928. The stations were created to service
motorists traveling the newly constructed 107-mile section of the Tamiami Trail
between Naples and Miami.
In the early days of automobiles, horseless carriages of that time were
not the comfortable, reliable, and speedy machines we drive now. Many of them were open to the elements, an
unpleasant prospect during our rainy season!
Engines and tires were not always dependable, and the gas tank held a
modest 9 to 10 gallons of fuel.
Those 107 miles were largely unsettled, and I can imagine the wildlife
that drivers must have seen. The canal
that was dug for fill in order to raise the roadbed still parallels the
highway. Alligators sun themselves along
the banks, much like they did 100 years ago, though not in the same
numbers.
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| Red mangroves along the canal (watercolor sketch). |
Situated every ten miles along the portion of the Tamiami Trail linking
Naples and Miami, the stations offered fuel, food, and other necessities designed
to provide the “comforts” needed for a driving adventure through the Everglades. They were established by millionaire
entrepreneur Barron Collier, who also financed this section of the road.
Operated by a husband and wife, the stations also provided roadway
security. The husband (authorized by the
county sheriff) would patrol a five-mile stretch on each side of the station by
motorcycle during daylight hours to assist motorists in need. According to Collier County’s Historical and Archaeological
Preservation Board, Weaver Station hosted a restaurant with restrooms on the
ground floor, and living quarters for the husband and wife team. Also available were unfurnished cabins to
travelers who carried their own bedding.
The men patrolling the
Trail became the Southwest Mounted Police, which in turn was the foundation for
the first Florida Highway Patrol. An
article in the November 1928 edition of the Collier
County News mentions the first officer at the Fakahatchee station as S. M.
Weaver, presumably the namesake for Weaver’s Station. What a life it must have been, husband and
wife living in relative isolation, vast stretches of wet grasslands dotted with
hammocks all around them.
I sketched the grassy
areas to the south and east (top image), framed with a stand of tall leather ferns and a cabbage
palm. The small painting was made facing
west and a bit south, along a portion of a north-south
canal lined with red mangroves and Australian pine. With a wary eye out for alligators, I sat in
a mowed area filled with butterflies, with a cool and clear blue sky overhead. Looking at these images in my sketchbook
today in September, I’m amazed at the detail of memory they bring back. I can almost feel the February coolness on my
skin, see the swallowtail kites kettling high in the sky, and hear the passing
traffic on the road. The buildings are
gone now, the land in possession of the Seminoles. The road remains, our contemporary path
across the Everglades.
Media:
Super Deluxe Aquabee sketchbook
by Bee Paper, 9x6 inches
Daniel Smith watercolors
Kimberly, Derwent, and Inktense
water soluble pencils
Prismacolor white colored pencil
Niji Aquabrushes
For more reading:
A slideshow of our day:
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