St. Elmo W. Acosta was a city commissioner in Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and is the man after whom the Acosta Bridge

Acosta Bridge

The Acosta Bridge spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on a fixed span. It was named for City Councilman St. Elmo W. Acosta, who convinced voters to approve a $950,000 bond issue for the original bridge. It carries SR 13 with the two-track JTA Skyway in the median. Prior to its...

 was named.

Born in Jacksonville on January 12, 1875,
Acosta enjoyed a long career of public service. Although he was a noted city commissioner, state legislator, and city parks commissioner, he will always be known as the man who championed the cause of a pedestrian and automobile span across the St. Johns River

St. Johns River

The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...

. Now known as a city of bridges, Acosta pushed through the funding for the first for the people. He was known during his time for a fanatical devotion to a greener Jacksonville, but was against female suffrage.

When the bridge that was to eventually bear his name was completed in 1921, St. Elmo Acosta (known as "Chic") led the first parade across the original metal span. Although then known as the St. Johns River Bridge, shortly after Acosta's death in November of 1947, State Senator John Mathews (whose name would eventually grace another downtown Jacksonville bridge) pushed that the Florida Legislature should rename the span after Acosta. Governor Fuller Warren

Fuller Warren

Fuller Warren was the 30th Governor of Florida.Born in Blountstown, Florida, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville. While at the University of Florida, he was one of the early members of Florida Blue Key and was a member of the Tau Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity...

(another bridge namesake) re-christened the bridge on August 17, 1949. The original span was replaced in 1991, but the new concrete and steel span still bears his name.