New Switzerland: the history of Greenbriar Road

Francis Phillip Fatio, circa 1870. Courtesy of Florida Memory.

An 1864 Office of Coast Survey map showing New Switzerland and the old Fatio Road leading to it, running largely along the modern path of Greenbriar Road and CR-210. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Modern Greenbriar Road descends from the 18th century Fatio Road, which ran from the King’s Road (now Old Dixie Highway) west to the St. Johns River. Swiss planter Francis Phillip Fatio came to Florida during its British period, and in 1774 he established New Switzerland Plantation (Nueva Suiza in Spanish) on the banks of the St. Johns. Fatio Road served to connect New Switzerland and other riverfront posts to the Kings Road and St. Augustine.

The Fatio Road branched off of the King’s Road near Hilden Road, about 14 miles north of St. Augustine. It continued west onto the current path of County Road 210 and then Greenbriar Road out toward New Switzerland. American forces burnt New Switzerland down in the Patriot War of 1812 and it was never rebuilt, but the name “Switzerland” survives in this area today.

Switzerland Airfield in 1945 with Airport Road, now Greenbriar Road, on the right. Image courtesy of the National Archives via Abandoned & Little Known Airfields.

In the mid-19th century, another road was cut southwest toward Orangedale from the present day interchange of Greenbriar Road and CR-210. CR-210 would later follow this path, doglegging southwest at Greenbriar. The development and redevelopment of the county road over the years may have created the conditions that led to the rise of the ghost light.

In 1940, Naval Air Station Jacksonville established Switzerland Airfield south of the old Fatio Road, then County Road 11. It was used for flight training and a bombing range. The road became known as Airport Road or Bombing Range Road, names which stuck long after the Navy abandoned the facility in the 1950s. The presence of a forsaken airfield only added to the road’s mystique.

Investigations, hypotheses, and the disappearance of the Ghost Light

This 1993 map shows the unusual interchange between CR-210 and Greenbriar Road; cars traveling west on 210 would veer southwest through the intersection. Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.

By 1987, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office had received so many reports about the light that they launched an investigation and consulted with scientists about its causes, but came to no firm conclusion. Numerous paranormal researchers also tried their hand, but had no more success than the police. Several hypotheses have been offered, ranging from supernatural forces to signals for drug runners on the abandoned airfield to swamp gas - the will-o’-the-wisp effect. However, later developments suggest one explanation in particular is most likely.

One thing is certain: the years of changes to CR-210 and Greenbriar Road left behind an unusual intersection. Then as now, westbound CR-210 traveled toward Greenbriar at such a slight angle that it could easily be the same road. However, for decades, 210 banked left to continue southwest rather than meeting Greenbriar straight away. According to the theory, this curve created an optical illusion in which headlights on westbound 210 appeared to be coming up Greenbriar; at a distance, a car’s two headlights appeared as one. As the cars curved through the intersection and past the trees, their lights would seem to vanish abruptly.

This 2020 map shows the current configuration of the interchange between CR-210 and Greenbriar Road. Image courtesy of the St. Johns County Government.

Today, cars traveling west on CR-210 pass through the intersection with Greenbriar Road at a right angle. Before the interchange was reconfigured and the traffic light added, cars entered a banked curve that may have created the effect of disappearing lights.

This explanation gains support from the fact that the ghost light hasn’t been seen since 2001. That year, the intersection was reconfigured for safety, with the unusual banked curve replaced with a standard, right-angled intersection and traffic lights. If the theory is correct, the change would eliminate the disappearing light effect – or, so as not to kill a good story, perhaps the ghost found the safety features satisfying and finally crossed over.

In addition to the updated interchange, the former dirt road has been paved. All along Greenbriar, cookie-cutter subdivisions and suburban schools have replaced the woods and open fields in all but a dwindling few places. The ghost light and the tale of the headless motorcyclist still occasionally appear in books and websites on Florida ghosts and curiosities; some report it as if it still exists, while others doubt it ever did. Otherwise the light shines only in the memories of legend-trippers past.

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Article by Bill Delaney. Contact Bill at w.l.delaney@gmail.com.