The Overseas Railroad extended the Florida East Coast Railway from the mainland to Key West, carrying tracks 128 miles across the Florida Keys between 1905 and 1912. Driven by Henry Flagler after the Panama Canal's announcement, it was conceived as a link to a potentially important deep-water port and became one of the era's most ambitious transportation projects. Built at great cost by thousands of workers despite repeated hurricane damage, it carried passengers and freight but never realized the expected canal-trade boom. After the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed much of the line, its roadbed and bridges were converted into the Overseas Highway, with remnants still visible in the Keys.