The Bellamy Road was the first major U.S. federal highway in early territorial

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Land travel and transportation in Florida prior to its acquisition by the United States was by foot over trails. The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

used existing Native American trails to reach missions established in the interior of Florida. The main route from St. Augustine to the

Apalachee Province Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, th ...

was known as ''el Camino Real'', the Royal Road. In the latter part of the 17th century the Spanish tried, with limited success, to improve the Royal Road to allow use by ox carts. In 1824, three years after Florida became a United States territory, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

authorized the construction of a road connecting

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

to St. Augustine. The law specified crossing points for the

Choctawhatchee River The Choctawhatchee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed 15 April 2011 river in the southern United States, flowing through southeast Alabama and the Panhandle o ...

Econfina Creek Econfina Creek is a small river in the middle Florida Panhandle. It flows through hilly country, and has sections of whitewater rapids. Much of its flow comes from springs. The river ends at Deer Point Lake, a reservoir that provides the freshw ...

(using the natural bridge there) and the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

. From Tallahassee the road was to follow the old Spanish Road (''Camino Real'') to St. Augustine, crossing the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

at Picolata. Congress authorized US$20,000 for the project. The

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, which was responsible for constructing the road, solicited proposals to build the eastern portion of the road. John Bellamy of

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

, with the endorsement of Florida Territorial Governor William Duval, offered to construct the road between the

Ochlockonee River The Ochlockonee River ( ) is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for before terminating in Florida. Background The name is from the Hitchiti language words ...

and St. Augustine for US$13,500. The Army contracted with Bellamy, and the Ochlockonee River to St. Augustine section became known as Bellamy's (or Bellamy) Road. Bellamy built the road using equipment and slaves from his plantation, and completed his portion of the road in 1826. The congressional act stated that the road was to be wide, but the contract with Bellamy required that the road only be wide. Tree stumps were to cut as close to the ground as possible, in order to clear a wagon's axles. Travelers quickly complained that the road was not always wide enough to let two wagons pass, that the bridges were inadequate, and that some stumps ("stump knockers") were too tall, jolting passengers and breaking axles. The Bellamy Road followed the general route of the Spanish Royal Road (''el Camino Real'') or Old Mission Trail, used by Native Americans and Spanish missionaries, running from Mission San Luis de Apalachee near Tallahassee to St. Augustine. It headed eastward through present-day Jefferson County, and then crossed the

Aucilla River The Aucilla River rises in Brooks County, Georgia, USA, close to Thomasville, and passes through the Big Bend region of Florida, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay. Some early maps called it the Ocilla River. It is long and h ...

by ferry into Madison County. The road continued eastward most of the way across Madison County until close to the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

, turning south into Lafayette County. The road crossed the Suwannee River by ferry into Suwannee County and ran southward close to the Suwannee River. It then passed into Columbia County, running past the

Fig Springs mission site The Fig Springs mission site ( 8CO1) is an archaeological site in Ichetucknee Springs State Park, in Columbia County, Florida. It has been identified as the site of a Spanish mission to the Timucua people of the region, dating to the first half o ...

on the

Ichetucknee River The Ichetucknee River is a spring-fed, pristine river in North Central Florida. The entire of the river average wide, deep and most of the 6 miles lie within the boundaries of the Ichetucknee Springs State Park while the rest is to the south o ...

and entering Alachua County using the natural bridge of the Santa Fe River at

O'Leno State Park O'Leno State Park is a Florida State Park located on the Santa Fe River six miles north of High Springs on U.S. 441. Many facilities at the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. History A town called Keno, also the na ...

. The road continued across northern Alachua County to near

Lake Santa Fe Lake Santa Fe is a lake that is fed by seepage from the Floridan Aquifer in northeastern Alachua County, Florida. The lake is located entirely in Alachua County, but is bounded on the east and South side by Bradford County, Clay County, and P ...

. From there, the route of Bellamy Road forms the current boundary between the northwest part of Putnam County and the southwest part of

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

. The road then crossed southeast Clay County, crossed the

at Picolata, and continued through St. Johns County to St. Augustine. Neil Coker, a former slaved interviewed by the WPA, describes the Bellamy Road and its history, including stating that Mr. Bellamy exploited it as a toll road. In 1979, the road was designated as a Florida Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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