Florida’s Big Dig

The story of the Intracoastal and other thoughts on water, waterways, land, and ecology

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about

I am Bill Crawford. I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., bisected by the Intracoastal. I graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in commerce, with distinction, concentrating in finance. I obtained my juris doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law. I have practiced law for more than 43 years. I am a professional historian and author of the award-winning book, “Florida’s Big Dig,” (2008) the story of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. I have practiced law in Florida since 1975. Along the way, I developed a keen interest in researching and writing history, publishing numerous scholarly journal articles and one award-winning book, “Florida’s Big Dig,” the story of Florida’s Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, using my legal pbackground to understand legal transactions, deeds, wmortgages, bonds, preferred stock, and legal descriptions of land and water. In recent years, I have maintained a limited practice consulting with other professionals on various historical land and water issues, including sovereign, riparian, and submerged land rights, focusing on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Florida inland waterways. I maintain a broad regular website here at www.floridasbigdig.me and a website solely on how the book was researched as well as some of the major themes explored. The website on the book itself is at www.floridasbigdig.com. The website on contacts for professional services is at www.floridasbigdiglawyer.com?. A fifteen-page outline of my book

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  • Celebrating Thanksgiving Aboard Union Ironclads, James River, 1864

    Originally posted on Irish in the American Civil War: In November 1864 a number of Union Ironclads were to be found on the James River in Virginia, supporting Federal ground operations there. A large number of the men on board the vessels of the James River Flotilla were Irish; indeed they made up an estimated…

  • Santee-Cooper River Locks (South Carolina) three (3) – minute video

    These modern locks service the transition from the Santee River to the Cooper River for recreational boating in South Carolina. Completed in 1800, the 22-mile long Santee Canal, with three wooden locks, was the first canal built in America. Lifting boats to the Cooper River, the canal locks served commercial vessels in the transit of…

  • Eighty-seven-year-old Trent-Severn Inland Canal (Peterborough lock)

    Once used for industrial and transportation purposes, the nearly one hundred year old Canadian canal is now used exclusively for recreational purposes. The Waterway connects the Great Lakes Ontario and Huron. The route essentially follows the waters from Georgian Bay to the Bay of Quinte, which Samuel Champlain used to travel with the Indians as…

  • The Rideau Canal of Canada (1832)

    Built in 1832, the Rideau Canal links the city of Ottawa on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, a distance of over 126 miles. Designed by architect John By, the Canal was constructed in the event of war with the United States. Here, a short film of the stretch…

  • 5 minute time lapse video of a 61 foot yacht locking in and out on the Erie Canal

    Built between 1817 and 1825, the Erie Canal was a wildly successful financial event, setting off the first “Canal Era” in the United States. Canals like the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Dismal Swamp, and Chesapeake and Delaware Canals followed, hoping to duplicate the Erie Canal’s success. To some degree each man-made canal did but each…

  • A short film about living aboard a canal (narrow or packet) boat near London

    The earliest travel by inland waterway appears to have been in France and England on packet or narrow boats as early as the 1700s. The first were pulled by horses ambling along paths paralleling the canal. When the first steam engines came along, self propulsion allowed more boats to safely pass slower boats or boats…

  • “FLORIDA,” a poem written by Florida’s Poet Laureate

    Skellings died in 2012. Florida Governor Bob Graham conferred the lifetime title upon Skellings in 1980. Tap on the following line twice in PDF (Acrobat): Click to access showfile.exe It is three pages long, including a photograph of Florida from space. Tap on the “X” to return to the blog.

  • West Coast Business Leaders Urge Capitalizing on the Panama Canal

    TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL Government, business leaders urge capitalizing on canal expansion Oct 30, 2014, 2:47pm EDT Wade Millward Former Florida Senator George LeMieux listens to the business panel at a global trade symposium Thursday. LeMieux, now with the Gunster law firm, gave the event’s final presentation on the importance of global trade. Wade Millward…

  • Will the added tracks to Flagler’s railway ‘close’ the waterways in Florida?

    Florida East Coast Will the railroad ‘close’ waterways in Florida? Date Reported: Oct 26, 2014 Mile: 0.0 Reported by: Mike Ahart, News Editor We have posted several articles on the proposed rail service that would significantly affect navigation in Stuart and Fort Lauderdale, and for many in the Jupiter area, plus affect the ambiance and…

  • The Erie Canal at Lockport, N.Y.

    R The first inland waterway in America was the canal built at Ipswich, Mass., in 1636.  All other waterways were built with private or state funds through a variety of schemes, including the use of a lottery, for two centuries more until the 1850’s.  Constitutional constraints still prohibited Congress from financing canal construction. Still, Congress…