The east met the west with the building of the Tamiami
Trail.Opened up to traffic in Collier County on April 26, 1928,
the long-anticipated highway was celebrated as the "greatest
road built during the 20th century." Some have compared it to
the building of the Panama Canal. It was some feat — and one
that looked like it might never happen until Barron Gift Collier
came to town. As early as 1895, Capt. J.F. Jaudon — one of Dade
County's first tax assessors — dreamed of a highway linking the
two coasts. He had large land holdings west of Miami in the Big
Cypress and wanted to open them up to development. In 1915,
Jaudon worked with others to bring his dream to life in
Tallahassee. The project began that year with various counties
starting to build their sections, but it would be 13 years
before the road was completed at an estimated cost of $8
million. Some on the east coast fought the trail, saying, "You
will destroy Miami. It will flood the whole city," wrote the
late Maria Stone, a former Collier County sch