Brick Road

Paved in brick, this stretch of State Road 22 recalls a brief but important era in Florida transportation as the nation shifted from horses to automobiles and states struggled to modernize roadways. In Florida, narrow car tires had turned roads of clay and crushed shells into rutted messes, and brick pavers offered a more permanent solution. After a 1913 bond approval, Orange County began installing miles of modern brick highways. Opened in 1915, the Winter Garden Road was originally only nine feet wide and had a speed limit of 30 mph as it zig-zagged through West Orange County citrus groves. Following the "fruit loop" from its western terminus in Oakland east through Tildenville, Winter Garden, Ocoee, Orlo Vista, and into Orlando via Washington Street took motorists nearly an hour. Although brick roads were durable, they were uncomfortable, and many were later paved over with smoother compounds such as macadam, an early form of asphalt. Few stretches of Florida's brick highway system therefore remain, and this 0.6-mile section preserves a formative part of Orange County's path toward becoming a world-renowned destination.

Florida · United States