A hard road causes a place to change. A hard road is an invite for the unusual and new to come and for the old and familiar to go. A ragged, rutted trail seems to sing to stay and – stay the same.

When Clay County was lopped off from the southern part of Duval County in 1858, residents began choosing up sides over the question of roads. Some saw hard surfaced roads as necessary to the development of the county, an enticement to new settlers and a boom to business. Others were convinced that roads would just mean more competition, encourage invasion by dangerous riff-raff and, most feared, higher taxes.

For decades from the Civil War until the 1920’s, the hard road opposition held sway and foiled all efforts to pass bond issues for paved road construction. Instead, the haphazard system of private landowners carving out ragged dirt trails then petitioning for designation as a publicly maintained road persisted.

By the late 1870’s, the taxpayers of Clay County were stuck with the impossible responsibility of maintaining miles of stump littered, dirt trails. Maintenance consisted of mule drawn graders and county prison labor. Supervision was the responsibility of the sheriff.

Some of these so-called roads went nowhere any one wanted to go. Other areas boasted four or five roads all going to and from the same place. Citizens petitioned to have roads closed to reduce the ever increasing maintenance costs.

Clay County’s numerous creeks and sloughs were just another nightmare of road upkeep. Any road that crossed water had to have a bridge or ferry. Travelers never knew what condition the bridge would be in when they got there. Rough log bridges were common where water was relatively shallow. But these were prone to rot or just tear up and disappear if water ran high or someone needed the logs for some other purpose.

Traditional bridges were truly a headache. They were expensive to build and a target of choice for anyone with an ax to grind or a score to settle. The Governor’s Creek Bridge just north of Green Cove Springs was a prime example. It was heavily traveled and close to the courthouse so people who met with misadventure on the structure were still furious when they arrived to complain.

A particular problem was its tendency to give way and swallowed up horses and mules. In 1872, the ever strapped for funds commissioners dealt with the problem by posting a sign warning that the bridge was unsafe for horses. The bridge was patched and repaired and residents continued losing horses until a new bridge at a cost of $1,000 was completed in 1883.

In the late 1890’s, Florida was swept up in The Good Roads movement sweeping the nation. Sadly, no money came with those enthusiastic notions.

After attending a back-slapping convention in Jacksonville with movers and shakers from all over the state, the Clay County Commissioners were complete converts to the need for hard roads in the county. A commitment was made to build an oyster shell road and bicycle path from the Duval County line south to Governors Creek as part of the overall state plan.

Still unable to pass a bond issue, the commission voted to increase property taxes to cover costs. This stirred up a real hornet’s nest. At the next election less than a year later, several commissioners were replaced but the road was complete, almost to Putnam County in the south. It was promptly christened The Hard Road by locals and as years passed became known as The Old Hard Road.

Outside of hard surfaced roads built by towns, it remained the only hard road in the county until the 1920s. Voters in those days meant what they said and elected officials didn’t cross them without suffering the consequences.