The 1892 Frost-Proof Line and the Avon Park Wooden Tramway

In October and November 1892, regional promoters in DeSoto and Polk counties organized a promotional initiative known as the “Frost-Proof Line” (or Frost Proof Line), seeking capital to build a 40-mile north-south railway connecting Haines City on the South Florida Railroad south through the Lake Wales Ridge settlements of Crooked Lake, Midland, and Pabor Lake to Avon Park.[pineapple] Although standard steel trackage was never laid under the 1892 proposal, the enterprise was the direct predecessor of the Avon Park Transportation Company, which constructed a wooden-railed tramway along the same projected corridor in 1895.[pineapple][harpers-1895-novelty]

The 1892 Promotional Campaign

The 1892 railroad proposal was spearheaded by poet and horticultural promoter William E. Pabor (founder of the Pabor Lake Colony) and Oliver Marvin Crosby (founder of Avon Park and president of the Florida Development Company).[pineapple][maxwell-1976]

Promoting the Lake Wales Ridge as an elevated, thermally protected “frost-proof” agricultural zone capable of sustaining year-round pineapple, citrus, and banana cultivation, the organizers argued that a dedicated rail corridor was essential to transport perishable subtropical fruits to northern markets.[pineapple] Pabor actively lobbied national cartographers and railroad officials to place Pabor Lake on commercial maps, positioning the proposed “Frost-Proof Line” as a future trunk route extending toward deep-water ports at Charlotte Harbor and Fort Myers.[pineapple]

However, early 1890s financial stringency and the remote location of the interior ridge prevented the promoters from securing the substantial capital required for standard steel rails, grading, and heavy locomotives.[harpers-1895-novelty]

Transition to the Avon Park Transportation Company (1894–1895)

The project gained practical momentum in December 1894 through an engineering feat by local sawmill operator John C. Burleigh.[harpers-1895-novelty] Having purchased a 12-ton geared Shay steam locomotive (Lima Locomotive Works shop no. 469, named the “Crosby”), Burleigh transported the engine 23 miles overland through deep pine sands from the nearest railhead at Bowling Green to Avon Park by repeatedly laying, traversing, taking up, and relaying a portable wooden track.[harpers-1895-novelty]

Recognizing that wooden rails could circumvent the high cost of steel, the promoters adapted the 1892 plan. On 5 January 1895, an organizational meeting in Avon Park formally chartered the Avon Park Transportation Company (also styled the Avon Park & Haines City Railroad):[pineapple]

• President: Clark Darwin Knapp, pioneer attorney.
• Vice President: Oliver Marvin Crosby.
• Secretary and Treasurer: Charles C. Chollar, Cashier of the Bank of Avon Park.
• Superintendent: John C. Burleigh.

The company planned to build a 40-mile wooden tramway north to Haines City using 4x8-inch pine stringers pinned directly into the sand.[harpers-1895-novelty] The line opened from Avon Park north to Pabor Lake on Saturday, 7 September 1895, carrying lumber, pineapples, and passengers.[pineapple]

Freeze, Sheriff’s Sale, and Legacy

The line was never extended through Frostproof to Haines City. The catastrophic double freezes of December 1894 and February 1895 devastated local citrus and pineapple crops, destroying the traffic base required to support operations.[maxwell-1976] Financial distress caused the Florida Development Company and the railroad to default, culminating in a January 1897 sheriff’s sale and the repossession of the locomotive.[maxwell-1976]

The 40-mile corridor envisioned by the 1892 “Frost-Proof Line” was ultimately realized in 1912, when the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad completed its Haines City Branch through Frostproof, Avon Park, and Sebring.[maxwell-1976]

References

• pineapple — W. E. Pabor and E. A. Pabor, editors and publishers. Pabor Lake Pineapple (Pabor Lake, Avon Park, DeSoto County, Florida), October 1892 to September 1897. 15 September 1897. pabor-lake-pineapple.md
• harpers-1895-novelty — Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 2008. A Novelty Among Railroads. 15 June 1895. harpers-weekly-1895-novelty-among-railroads.md
• maxwell-1976 — Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell. The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida: 1870–1976. 1976. the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md

Related

• Entity: Avon Park Transportation Company
• Entity: John C. Burleigh
• Entity: Crosby Shay Locomotive
• Entity: Clark D. Knapp
• Entity: C. C. Chollar
• Report: Burleigh Steam Engine and the Avon Park Wooden Railroad
• Entity: Atlantic Coast Line Haines City Branch

Where this comes from

Evidence

corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.

Review

unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.

Rights

society

Sources

1. W. E. Pabor and E. A. Pabor, editors and publishers, Pabor Lake Pineapple (Pabor Lake, Avon Park, DeSoto County, Florida), October 1892 to September 1897 (1897)
2. Harper's Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 2008, A Novelty Among Railroads (1895)
3. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida: 1870–1976 (bundle/references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)

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