A Bit of History
The Bellamy Road
1826
1829
Map showing the Bellamy Road and “Dells Post Office” (highlighted) just above the Arrendondo
Grant
Also highlighted is Alligator Lake which is the current day Lake City
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In 1824 the US Congress authorized the construction of a federal highway to connect the only two towns of any significant population in Florida at the time, Pensacola in west Florida on the Gulf and St. Augustine on the east coast, a distance by the road of 367 miles. Passing some thirty miles north of the Alachua Savana, the Bellamy Road followed the general route of the Old Mission Trail, used by Native Americans and Spanish missionaries. Going westward from Picolata on the St. Johns River to Lake Santa Fe, passing through the center of Alachua County, then crossing the Santa Fe River at the natural land bridge, and the Suwannee River by ferry, before continuing on westward eventually reaching Pensacola.
In January of 1823 the initial construction cost estimate, if done by army troops was:
For their extra 15 cents per day
$6,930.00
For their Do gill of whiskey
924.00
For the expense of the necessary teams to
accompany the troops
4,000.00
For the transportation of provisions and other
supplies to different points of deposit
on the route
7,000.00
Total $18,854.00
By December, after further survey and analysis, the cost, if done by soldiers, rose to $51,316.00. In September of 1824 John Bellamy agreed to undertake the construction for $23,000 with an advance of $5,000. The road was specified to be 25 feet wide making the road “wide enough for a wagon to pass with ease” but in October with the first twenty miles at the full 25 foot width of 25, it changed with the next 15 miles at 15 feet with the intent to “greatly expedite the work and will be sufficient wide for all practical and useful purposes.” John Bellamy was commissioned to build the portion of the road from the Ocklockny River to St. Augustine but in Bellamy’s contract the road was specified to be only 16 feet wide instead of the 25 specified by Congress. In April of 1826 Mr. Rodman wrote to the Secretary of War[1,2] about the discrepancy saying, “I am ignorant of the cause of this discrepancy. Sixteen feet is certainly much too narrow for any public road in this country.” Rodman was not happy with the road as built by Bellamy writing, “Under this contract Mr. Bellamy has indeed opened the road as far as the St. John river, and I understand that he pretends it is thus far complete. But sir, I am sorry to inform you that it is in no respect made according to the terms of the publication for the contract.” The contract it stated for the stumps in the road to be “cut down as even to the ground as possible” but Bellamy was a bit liberal with the “low as possible” part. Rodman wrote, “The stumps of the trees on the road are left standing to a great height, instead of being cut down as low to the ground as possible.” Rodman said that he sincerely hoped that the contract had not been paid. The road had other faults, often not more than 12 feet in width, insufficiently made in low wet places and missing the side ditches making it underwater in wet seasons, and in many cases, tree stumps nearly a foot above ground. Part of the problem was the initial survey for the route was done in a “remarkably dry” time and they had not anticipated the rise in water levels during wetter seasons.
It was noted that the road did not pass though settlements of the area such as Wantons, but rather settlements along the road were formed once the route was laid out and work commenced as was the case of Dells settlement.
The road was completed, improved over time and became known as the Bellamy Road.. After completion, the road provided a shorter and faster overland route between the two cities rather than the month-long journey by ship around the tip of Florida.
1. [1] Boyd, Mark F. “The First American Road in Florida: Papers Relating to the Survey and Construction of the Pensacola-St. Augustine Highway Part 1.” The Florida Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 2, 1935, pp. 73–106. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30150213.
2. Boyd, Mark F. “The First American Road in Florida: Papers Relating to the Survey and Construction of the Pensacola St. Augustine Highway Part II.” The Florida Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 3, 1936, pp. 139–92. JSTOR, hthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/30150236
Updated: 10-09-2025