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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 203/340

The Early Twentieth Century

by way of Waycross, Georgia to Jacksonville (later U.S. 1). The
section between Waycross and Jacksonville was described by one
traveler who made the trip in a Model T. Ford in 1917 as “almost
90 miles of just bayonets, pine trees, and rattlesnakes.”24
Considerable interest in the automobile was stimulated in
1911 when the famous Glidden Tour passed through Lake City.
Charles J. Glidden, a writer who did much to popularize auto­
mobile touring, provided a trophy in 1905 for automobile touring,
and it was competed for yearly after that. The Glidden Tour of
1911 was sponsored by the American Automobile Association, and
the route selected was over the National Highway from New York
through Atlanta, and on to Jacksonville. The trip was projected to
take ten days. The “pathfinder,” the advance car, left New York
City on September 8, to select the route.25

A variety of automobiles were entered in the Glidden Tour of
1911. The favorites were the Maxwells. Georgia Governor Hoke
Smith was in the tour in a chauffeur-driven Maxwell, while
Florida Governor Albert W. Gilchrist, also in a Maxwell, was
expected to join up with the group as it entered the state south of
Valdosta. The most impressive vehicle in the tour was a silver-
plated Columbia driven by B. Marks of Athens, Georgia.26
The tour left New York City on October 16, crossing into
Florida on October 24. The route from Valdosta was by way of
Madison, Florida, Live Oak, Lake City, and on to Jacksonville. The
section between Valdosta and Madison took the better part of a day
as the cars moved through sandy areas with difficulty. Some

uIbid.; Lake City Chamber of Commerce, Lake City, Florida; Mrs. Earl Graf
Oral History Interview, FSU Oral History Collection, p. 2.
25Charles J. Glidden, “Era of the Motor," Country Life 19 (December, 1912), pp.
641-702; New York Tinies, September 9, 1911, p. 6; Lake City Chamber of
Commerce, Lake City, Florida, p. 8.
2GNew York Tinies, September 10, 1911, p. 8.
171

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