Just half
an hour west of Stuart, Florida, is an amazingly beautiful road that time seems to have forgotten.
This is the Martin Highway, County Road 714 between Allapattah Road and State Road 710, but the locals
simply call it:
"The Martin Grade."
The Martin Grade Scenic Highway Project
Protecting the Trees
This historic, 12-mile road is
shaded by a canopy of hundred-year-old oaks and is surrounded by pastures, groves, swamps, and woods just as it was when it
was carved out of the wilderness by the region's earliest settlers.
Corridor Advocacy Group Meeting
Date and Location
To be announced
What is the Martin Grade Scenic Highway Project?
It is a community-wide
effort to designate County Road 714 in western Martin County, Florida, a Scenic Highway in accordance with the Florida
Scenic Highway Program. The main emphasis of this project is to protect the tree canopy that
covers much of the corridor and to preserve the rural nature of the area for generations to come.
Art Photographer Thomas Winter donates art print of the Martin Grade. Left to right: Amanda Farinos, Keren Carmel,
Rob Dawson, Mona Schwall, Wilson the Dog, Thomas Winter, Judy Roberts, Mary Dawson (Lto R) . Photo by Steve Martine.
Help Draft the Martin Grade Corridor Management Plan!
Active Community involvement
is a key part of the Scenic Highway application process. You can play a major role in planning for th efuture
of the Martin Grade tree canopy and its community. Please contact us with your hopes and ideas for this special
place.
Award
winning Martin County photographer, Thomas Winter, has jump started the Community Participation phase by donating
a presentation art print of his renowned image of the Martin Grade and allowing SCL to use his Martin Grade images in promotional
materials for the Scenic Highway Project.
Thank you, to Volunteers:
Donita Enright
Ewa Lewinger
Welcom to the Martin
Grade Team!
News and Updates
The Martin Grade Participated in
FOCUS 2020 - The FSH Statewide Workshop - June 8-10, 2011
We are pleased to announce that we have begun
selling raffle tickets as a beginning to our summer fund raising efforts. The Grand Prize is a wall-sized glicee art print
of Thomas Winters’ "The Martin Grade".
This stunning photograph (pictured above) is the signature image of the Martin Grade Scenic Highway
and features the beautiful tree canopy that is the main feature of the Grade. The drawing will be held in August at the 2nd
annual Gathering for the Grade fundraising event. The suggested contribution per ticket is $10, or
three for $25.
We are also pleased
to offer limited-edition, signed-and-numbered 16X20 photographic prints as gifts in return for contributions of $200 or more.
The Martin Grade is now a Candidate Florida Scenic Highway!
On October 13, the Florida Scenic Highway Advisory Committee approved the
Martin Grade Scenic Eligibility Application and authorized us to go forward with the next phase of the project!
Now we must craft a Corridor Plan.
Please help us design the future of this beautiful
roadway!
Several years ago, a group of concerned
citizens realized that widening the road would destroy the trees. They started working to have the Grade designated
a Florida Scenic Highway so that the people of Martin County can protect the trees for generations to come. We
need your help.
Why is the Martin Grade worth protecting?
The Martin Grade Tree Canopy is the iconic image of Western Martin County. It
is the symbol of the quality of life Martin County residents have chosen for their community, and protecting it
is a commitment to the concept that Floridians do not have to choose between the things that give their communities
beauty and value and Progress. Through planning and commitment, we can have both.
