President Lyndon B. Johnson at opening ceremonies of the Cross Florida Barge Canal

Date in History: 

27 Feb 1964

1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke at the opening ceremonies of the Cross Florida Barge Canal on this date. President Johnson even detonated the first charge to break ground for the new project. In his speech Johnson said, “The challenge of a modern society is to make the resources of nature useful and beneficial to the community, so this is the passkey to economic growth.”  For centuries people theorized about building some kind of cross-state canal, but it was not until 1933 when the federal government authorized some funding. The project was reauthorized in 1942, and finally in 1964 construction began on the a canal that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico just north of Crystal River east along the Ocklawaha River towards Palatka, then down the St. Johns River and out into the Atlantic Ocean past Jacksonville. Opposition to the construction of the canal was immediate and continued until 1971 when all construction ceased and the project was officially deauthorized in 1991. The portions of completed canal and the right of way were turned over to the state and were subsequently renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in 1998.

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Relevant Year: 

1964

Relevant Month: 

02

Relevant Day: 

27