The Junction's Ghost

Yeehaw Junction is a place defined by transition, a dusty oasis where the Florida Turnpike intersects with State Road 60 in the empty, cattle-dotted interior of Osceola County. For decades, the main landmark here was the Desert Inn, a historic wood-frame tavern and brothel that served as a resting point for cow hunters and travelers heading south to Miami. Today, the Inn is a pile of weathered timber, partially destroyed by a truck accident and subsequently demolished by the state. What remains is a pair of gas stations, a truck stop, and a vast expanse of palmetto scrub that is currently being eyed by some of the state's largest land developers.

The rural peace of the junction is threatened by several proposed infrastructure projects, including a major expressway extension that would slice through the heart of the remaining cattle ranches. Proponents of the development argue that the state’s population growth requires new transit corridors to bypass the congested coastal highways. But to the generations of ranchers who have run beef cattle on these dry prairies, the asphalt represents the end of an era. The Florida grass-fed beef industry, which operates on thin profit margins, relies on these vast, uninterrupted landscapes to graze their herds, landscapes that are increasingly threatened by suburban encroachment.

Standing near the edge of the highway, the roar of the semi-trucks is constant, carrying tomatoes, construction materials, and tourists across the state. A lone sandhill crane stands in the drainage ditch, its red crown brilliant against the grey gravel. This is the heart of the Florida wildlife corridor, a critical geographic link that allows animals to move between the Everglades and the northern forests. If the planned developments go through, this crucial corridor will be severed by concrete, turning the historic junction from a symbol of wild Florida into just another exit on the road to somewhere else.