Working on the Railroad: The Human Story Behind Boca Grande’s First Rail Line

The song “I’ve been working on the railroad all the live long day” is the introduction to an American folk tune with historical ties to minstrel shows, first printed in 1894.

The melody and lyrics probably originated from a song called “Levee Song.” The phrase “working on the railroad” reflects the labor required in constructing railroad lines and the difficult work of marginalized American citizens groups and others who were an important part of the American workforce, including Chinese, Irish, African Americans and other immigrant groups. The construction of the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railroad, which initially connected Boca Grande to Arcadia, is just one example of the contributions of a composite workforce.

On July 4, 1907, The Fort Myers Weekly Press announced, “We received the following from Captain Peter Nelson on Tuesday, which gives the glad intelligence that Boca Grande Pass is now connected with the mainland by the railroad.” According to Peter Nelson, “The first locomotive came through to Boca Grande at 2:30 P.M. today – one car and some officials on board. Boca Grande Pass is now connected with the mainland. Full Steam Ahead!” On August 9, 1906, A want ad in the Tampa Tribune promoted the following: “Wanted: Railroad Ties. 100,000 standard ties delivered along the line of the Charlotte Harbor Railway between Boca Grande and Arcadia.” After at least two years of construction, (1905-1907), the CH&N was up and running, and Boca Grande gained an economic stimulus.

Many photos, articles, History Bytes, statistics, books, videos, etc. relating to the building of an expanding railroad network including the CH&N are now accessible to researchers. However, an important component of the history of the railroad on Gasparilla Island needs additional research, i.e., the composition, efforts, struggles and challenges confronting the workers who laid the tracks and completed the many tasks required in building a railroad line. Unfortunately, many names and nations of origin for the CH&N workforce are not readily available. Articles about Port Boca Grande, the shipping of phosphate, passenger service and related topics in addition to the “movers and shakers” who were successful entrepreneurs such as Bradley, Fouts, Wall and other railroad business leaders are readily available to the researcher; however, data which identify the origins and names of the actual workers who laid the track, built bridges and trestles, and faced the many obstacles in the laying of track which connected Boca Grande to points North are limited in scope.

Available research about conditions facing railroad workers who laid track tend to paint a negative scenario, although an element of romanticizing was also present in the history of railroad building. For example, the lore of happy workers known as “Gandy Dancers” presents a setting of workers who are happily melodic as they lay tracks. Gandy dancing (named for the company that made the tools) was in reality a heavy back-breaking job which was performed to rhythmic calls. Musical tones were created by the tools ringing against the track, and the “dancing” was the result of the rhythmic sway and thrust of the laborers’ bodies as they lifted or leveled the tracks. Research data describing work camps and conditions are available for many areas in Florida such as Pigeon Key, Peacock Slough Camp 9 on Long Key, Vaca Key and camps relating to the building of the Florida East Coast Railway. However, additional research is needed to describe the conditions in the work camps and track laying on Gasparilla Island. How were the laborers obtained? What were the nations of origin for immigrant labor? What were the average wages for the laborers? What were the typical living conditions in the work camps? This article is only the tip of the iceberg in an attempt to bring humanness to the many nameless faces who confronted the challenges in building a railroad on Gasparilla Island.

The November 30, 1905 edition of the Fort Myers Weekly Press contained an article which stated, “A gang of 30 Italian laborers passed through here yesterday morning enrout, it is believed, to Boca Grande, as they were placed on board the steamer Mistletoe, with an equipment of railroad tools, and steamed down the bay. Col. F.M. Loomis and Col. John P. Wall having chartered the steamer, neither would talk about the immediate plans of the company, though it is generally understood that this company is behind the importation of the Italians. Mr. Loomis stated that he had made arrangements with Northern capitalists and expected the work of the road under way in a short time.”

It should also be noted that Charles Dana Gibson (author of “Boca Grande: A Series of Historical Essays”) wrote that at least 60 laborers were on the Mistletoe. The book, “Images of America: Boca Grande,” by Marilyn Hoeckel and Theodore B. VanItallie, states that there was a workforce of at least 30 laborers who landed on the island and that tents were set up for the workers. A bunkhouse was built in Placida (1906-1907) by the CH&N to provide housing for railroad workers. Currently, Charlotte County and preservationists are attempting to raise funding for restoration of the bunkhouse and return it to Placida.

An October 4, 1905, article, also in the Weekly Press, proclaimed that “The two-mile trestle connecting Gasparilla Island with the mainland is now completed. The company proposes to bring down a large force of Italian laborers as soon as cool weather sets in and push the work of grading northward as rapidly as possible.” Thus, we can conclude that a percentage of the track-laying workforce consisted of Italian immigrants. Although data relating to Italian railroad workers in Lee County are scarce, many Italian railroad workers were obtained via what was known as the Padrone Labor System, basically an arrangement in which an Italian labor supervisor recruited poor Southern Italian workers to fulfill jobs in the United States. In other words, the Italian laborers were a disposable workforce. Existing records document Italian families arriving in Central Florida, and some of the younger men from this group later found railroad jobs in other parts of Florida.

Available data also indicate that Greek immigrants worked on the railroad in Charlotte Harbor. A headline in the Boston Globe (January 26, 1907) proclaimed, “Forty Greeks went to Florida to work on railroad and now make peonage charges.” The article states that “Six Greeks, penniless, hungry and footsore, today reported that they had walked to Tampa from Charlotte Harbor. The men claim that they with 40 others were employed in New Hampshire by the Greek-American Labor Bureau of New York to come to Florida to work on the Charlotte Harbor & Northern railroad; that they were subject to hardships. The company’s agents refused them transportation on their boats and they had to walk. The men have contracts granting them $1.50 per day.”

Descriptions of the working conditions while laying track from South Boca Grande to Arcadia and Mulberry vary and are subject to verification and denials. Robert Fischer, author of “Boca Grande: Once A Railroad Town,” wrote that “The total length of the main track completed from Gasparilla Island to South Mulberry encompassed 95.36 miles and included 90 timber trestles. The mainline required three swing bridges. Construction utilized 70-pound rails spiked to creosote ties, which were then held in pace by soil ballast.” The required day’s work was probably from sunrise to sunset or at least 10 hours. Clearing land, laying tracks and building trestles through challenging terrain such as swamps and marshes resulted in long working hours.

Average wages were $1.50 a day. Skilled workers, such as carpenters, might have received around $2.75 a day. Descriptions of working conditions as relates to the CH&N provides a contrast of scenarios. Scathing accusations can be found in the December 21, 1907, edition of Appeal to Reason, a militant socialist publication from Girard, Kansas. The Appeal was a response to a previously published denial of bad working conditions which was published earlier in 1907. (Both documents are available for research at the Boca Grande History Center.)

Finally, further research will probably substantiate that the CH&N track-laying workforce on Gasparilla Island consisted of a composite of immigrant laborers such as African Americans, Italians, Greeks and laborers from other sections of the South. These workers are nameless in the annals of history, but deserve our gratitude and appreciation for their role in building a railway that left a legacy of economic growth on Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande.

Gov. Edward Perry put it well in his message to the legislature in 1887: “Without a doubt the greatest factors in Florida’s progress are her railroads”