State Road 281, better known as Avalon Boulevard, in Santa Rosa County, was dedicated Wednesday in honor of Bart and John Broxson. The father and son, who had deep roots in the Holley area, served as Santa Rosa County Sheriff in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The back story to the designation began in 1957, when Bart Broxson, a Pentecostal preacher, started his four-year term as sheriff. Two years in, tragedy struck.
“Back on Christmas Eve 1959, Bart got killed in a traffic crash there in Holley, and the Broxson family changed a lot because of that,” said Bob Johnson, current Santa Rosa County Sheriff.
Immediately, Bart Broxson’s wife, Annie, was temporarily appointed to fill the seat.
Picking up the story is their youngest son, former State Sen. Doug Broxson. He recounted the belief that his father had “a premonition” about his death and had asked his brother, John, to take step in and finish his term if something terrible happened.
“It’s so illogical that no one could believe it,” Doug Broxson began. “But John went to Tallahassee and told the governor this incredible story about how his dad had come to see him. The governor did something that was so incongruent with reality; he appointed my brother, at 27, to be the sheriff of this county.”
John Broxson was appointed by then Gov. LeRoy Collins to serve out the remainder of the term, through 1961. He went on to be elected to the Florida House and Senate, and also served one term as Santa Rosa County Commissioner.
“In 2019, John died,” Broxson said of the triggering event. “During the following session, a senator from Tampa came to me, Democratic Sen. Janet Cruz, and says ‘I want to honor your family with a road designation.’”
Legislation approved in 2020 officially designated Avalon Boulevard as “Bart D. and John R. Broxson Parkway.”
“This runs from Highway 90 to the other major highway, U.S. 98, so it’s symbolic of coming together as a community,” stated the younger Broxson. “And to be part of that is just absolutely overwhelming to me.”
Ironically, the extremely controversial Garcon Point Bridge – a portion of the designated roadway – is a significant part of that unifying symbolism.
“Doug and I have talked about the fact that there’s a body of water that separates north and south Santa Rosa County,” said former Florida House Speaker Bo Johnson, who spearheaded the Garcon Point Bridge project. As it began to move forward, he recalled, there was “a lot of hate to go around.”
“There was a period of time when people on one end were very distrustful of people on the other and that the bridge, at least in part, would help unify Santa Rosa County.”
Among the benefits, he said the Garcon Point Bridge has made it easier for law enforcement to respond to calls, it has enhanced the economic vitality of the county, and it led to the widening of the roadway and other improvements.
“Now when it was being proposed, we said it’s got to be a hurricane evacuation route,” Johnson stated. “So that meant not only a bridge, but all of Avalon Boulevard had to be built up in order to comply with federal hurricane requirements.”
Speakers at the dedication ceremony included Phillip Gainer, District Three Secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation and Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and now Republican nominee for the congressional seat representing Northwest Florida.
The event was paused for a few minutes when former Senate President and recently elected State Sen. Don Gaetz experienced a medical episode as he was delivering remarks. He was transported to Baptist Hospital. In a post on X, former Congressman Matt Gaetz explained that his dad’s blood pressure dropped and he had recovered to normal.
At the end of the event, many members of the Broxson clan – now numbering more than 260 - gathered for the unveiling of the new state road sign honoring their loved ones.
Notably missing was Chris Broxson, the widow of John Broxson, who died on January 1 at the age of 89.
