ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – Up in the panhandle city of Pensacola sits a strange sight for drivers: a large, colorful bridge beneath an old railroad track, plastered with graffiti.
This spot — appropriately dubbed the “Graffiti Bridge” by locals — is located off 17th Avenue near the mouth of Escambia Bay.
At first glance, the site looks like a victim of vandalism, though what first-time visitors might not know is that it’s all perfectly legal.
The bridge’s origins can be traced back to the early 20th century, it wasn’t until 2007 that the city officially exempted the bridge from its defacement ordinance — the only place in the city to get that treatment.
That means pretty much anyone can come up and paint the exterior walls of the bridge however they’d like (though the surrounding railroad tracks and parking lot are off-limits).
“They say around 1930 – 1950 was the first time it was tagged. And the city didn’t like that at the time,” explained Joseph Seurkamp, who manages the Graffiti Bridge website. “So if they caught you, they would make you paint it over. They would ticket you.”
Nowadays, though, the bridge is constantly used as a vehicle for local artistry and expression.
“It’s been all over the place…” Seurkamp added. “They say that if it’s happening in the world, you’re going to see it on the Graffiti Bridge. And it’s almost like clockwork: something happens, and somebody will be passionate enough to go and paint it on the bridge.”
As a result, the bridge rarely looks the same from day to day.
However, that doesn’t mean that everything is hunky-dory.
Seurkamp told News 6 that some artists have gone outside the bounds of the bridge, which has sparked some conflict in the past with local homeowners.
“There’s some pretty nice houses up there, and there’s a brick wall up there that people like to paint, too,” he said. “Well, anytime that gets painted, I go, and I keep that color on standby. I go and roll over it and make it new again. I’ve kind of befriended most of the homeowners around the area, and so they know that if they see it before me, they (can) call me. ‘Hey, Joe, I just spotted a penis or a tag on the wall. You mind coming down and taking care of it?’”
But even with Seurkamp taking care of the collateral damage from loose cannon artists, the bridge is also infamous thanks to its propensity for car crashes.
A sign outside the trestle warns that its clearance is only 10 feet, 8 inches tall, so large vehicles regularly get wedged or scraped while trying to drive through.
Just last month, WEAR News reported that a box truck had crashed into the bridge, completely tearing off the truck’s roof. Several similar incidents were reported in 2023.
And according to the Pensacola News Journal, it’s almost a routine for the graffiti-laden site, with police claiming it happens “more than a few times a year.”
Seurkamp explained that he’s documented nearly hundreds of instances where trucks will either strike the bridge or get very close, but it just continues to happen.
“The city has gone out of their way to put up multiple “No Truck” signs. Well, they didn’t stop. They kept hitting it…” Seurkamp said. “They’re just not paying attention, you know? They’re snacking on some chips or playing on their phone or doing something they shouldn’t be when they go under that bridge.”
Despite all the troubles, the bridge has become something of a local landmark.
“People come there by the hundreds almost daily, I would say, and snap a picture,” Seurkamp stated. “And they all post their own and all that.”
Seurkamp — an artist himself — gave the bridge an online presence back in 2014 while working as a car salesman. He developed the bridge’s website, as well as a dedicated Facebook page, to help it garner more attention.
“I’m definitely becoming part of the history of the bridge — whether that’s on purpose or not, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve kind of tried to stay in the background.”
Now, Seurkamp creates his own works of art using the bridge — though his style is a bit more unconventional.
As he tells it, Seurkamp originally began cleaning up chunks of paint that fell from the bridge and used those remains to fashion jewelry.
“The rest was history,” he said. “I made a piece of jewelry, and within probably four months, I was putting in my notice to leave the dealership that I’d been at for eight years.”
For those who want to paint the bridge but can’t make the trip, Seurkamp said he’s also helped them coordinate with local artists to take on commissions.
“Not everybody has the ability to paint it or the time necessarily…” he told News 6. “You can call me to have the bridge painted. You can call me to have a piece of jewelry made from the layers of paint. You want a photograph that maybe you saw on the page 10 years ago? I got it.”
To get ahold of Seurkamp for a commission or to check out his online craft store, you can visit the Graffiti Bridge’s website here.
And for more stories about the weird and wild places across the Sunshine State, visit News 6′s “Florida Fables” page here.
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