Just outside Deland, Florida lies the St. Johns River a true Eco-system that provides a cross section of Florida's incredible wildlife, on any given day you will see everything from alligators, manatees, herons, egrets, osprey, otters, turtles and even the occasional bear, deer or American Bald Eagle. It's been almost 100 years since people first started driving across this river at this location, the original Crows Bluff Bridge was a swing span bridge; constructed in 1917, in 1954, a plan for construction of a replacement bridge was established; the new bridge, dedicated to DeLand resident Francis P. Whitehair, opened on September 22, 1955 and was built to carry traffic across the river for a century. Unfortunately that was an estimated life span and the bridge is showing signs that it may not survive much longer, especially since the maintenance cost for these mechanical marvels are more than 100 times that of the new modern concrete bridges built today. When terms like "functionally obsolete" and "not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places" are slung around you know your days are numbered. read more