Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Marquis Bayou Bridge, named for George Marquis, the owner of a local saw mill that operated in the mid-1800s, opened in 1937. A Santa Rosa County delegation that included future Florida Governor Millard Caldwell helped to make the bridge a reality. The bridge was designed by the Florida State Road Department, and Federal funds, some from the Works Progress Administration, were used in the bridge’s construction. Tidewater Construction Company, George D. Auchter Construction Company, and Duval Engineering & Construction Company helped to build the bridge, which provided an economic boost to Milton during the Great Depression. The Marquis Bayou Bridge was a two-lane, reinforced concrete T-beam bridge with a slight curve and a single sidewalk on the north side. Its historic cast concrete railings with distinctive vertical, oval openings were typical of 1920s-30s bridges but few remain in Florida. When the need arose for a new bridge, the Florida Department of Transportation worked closely with the community to design this new two-lane bridge on the same alignment and incorporating some of the historic railings from the original bridge.