From the traveler's perspective, there is not a whole lot to see or do in North Key Largo. The clubs at the far north are exclusive and private and they will probably run you off if you try to poke around. Nevertheless, you'll travel about 13 miles from the Card Sound bridge into the main part of Key Largo through what looks like a great deal of nothing, and it might be interesting to know what's out there in that nothing and what some of the history of the area is. You can easily drive through this area in as little as 15 minutes, or you could spend half a day poking through the area.
After crossing the Card Sound bridge, you'll technically be on the island of Key Largo, despite the fact that the built-up area lies some ten miles to the southwest. The road you are on here was built in the 1920's while the railroad was using the right-of-way over Jewfish Creek and into Key Largo (then called "Rock Harbor"). Much of the roadbed was dredged up fill, which, today, explains the many canals you'll see, mostly on the right hand side, along Card Sound Road. At the time, the road was maintained by the state (State Road 4-A), but today is maintained by Monroe County (CR 905-A). There are mile markers along this stretch of road, just like US-1, but there is little to note along this route.
After crossing the bridge, you will be in the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge protects the American crocodile, the Key Largo Wood Rat, Key Largo Cotton Mouse and a Swallowtail Butterfly. But for these four creatures, North Key Largo would probably look like Miami Beach and have 100,000 hotel rooms today. Even though you'll see signs for crocodile crossing, you'll probably never see a crocodile, as there are only perhaps 2,000-3,000 of them left in Florida. Unlike their freshwater cousins, the American Alligator, the crocodiles prefer the warm brackish and saltwater found in this area, and their only habitat in the United States is the extreme southern tip of Florida. The refuge is closed to the public and has no facilities of any kind, left largely in an unspoiled state. This is still a good place for birding, though, and you will likely see plenty of herons and egrets, osprey nests (if not the ospreys themselves), and maybe even the pterodactyl-looking Magnificent Frigatebird, although they're more commonly seen over open water like out in the Dry Tortugas. If you're interested, here is a good link on identifying the various herons and egrets from each other.
About two miles past the Card Sound bridge, there is a small overgrown turnoff to the right that is the old alignment of 4-A. The current road, curves to the left and crosses a small bridge where you will sometimes see locals fishing. Another mile and a half or so, and you will come to the present-day intersection with CR-905. You have to turn left or right now, but in the old days, the road used to go straight (you can still see it) and connect to the OLD north/south part of 4-A about a mile east of the current road. It's blocked off now. If you were to go left at this intersection, you'll travel about a mile and a half north and come to the gate house for the Ocean Reef Club. They will not let in riff-raff like you and I, so you have no choice but to turn around and double back.
The map above (or click here for larger version) shows the current route you travel (in purple) and some of the things going on in this area. When the first Overseas Highway was built in the 1920's, the road followed the blue path. With all the construction going on in the Miami area and in the Keys, the state built a dock at the far Eastern end of this road specifically for shipping in dynamite, out of fear of a dynamite-laden ship exploding in Miami's harbors. This dock was far enough away from civilization at the time to allay that fear. As late as the early 90's, you could drive all the way out there. The road is closed off and the dock gone today.
In the late 1950's, the U.S. started building missile sites around the country close to major population areas for air defense during the cold war. These sites were populated with Nike-Ajax missiles and later Nike-Hercules missiles capable of surface-to-air interception of inbound aircraft and, presumably, missiles. The location protecting the southern Florida area was located near Homestead in the Everglades. However, in 1962 the Cuban missile crisis prompted the U.S. to locate a Nike site in North Key Largo. At the time, there was no bridge over Card Sound - the wooden bridge destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and the "new" road bridge having been built over Jewfish Creek on the old railroad right-of-way, at the bottom of today's 18-mile stretch. Access to North Key Largo was over the Jewfish Creek bridge, then by turning left onto SR 4-A, heading 8 miles north (to the current MM C-8, on the map above), then following the orange route on the map. Design of the Nike site required two separate facilities a mile apart, one for radar and one for launching. The sites had to be far enough apart that falling stages from the missile would not fall on the radar and fire-control sites. Both of these sites went up sometime between 1962 and 1965 on the west side of the road. It's not clear whether the site ever housed any nuclear-armed missiles, but there were a great deal of missiles there at any rate by 1965.
In the late 1960's when the new high Card Sound bridge was opened, Monroe County 905 was re-routed to its current route (purple on the map). The new road was built over top of the underground connection between the two sites, with the radar site now ending up on the east side of the current road. Today, both sites are heavily overgrown and are located on protected land, you can not visit them. However, you can still see the radar towers from the radar and fire-control site if you look to the left around MM C-8.5 heading south. The mile markers on 905 start at C-0 at the southern terminus in Key Largo, and climb northward. The three-way intersection with Card Sound Road is around MM C-9.2. The abandoned road to the launch site is on the right (headed south) around MM C-7.5.
Heading south, around MM C-7 is a road to the left, Carysfort Circle. There are four very expensive homes down there that are among the most secluded homes you can find. There is nothing for the next several miles (save for a transfer station at MM C-5.5 where Key Largo sends its trash). A couple of very private homes around MM C3.5 and a larger development at MM C-2.
There is one more interesting site at MM C-1.0. Here, if you look to the east (Gulf side), you'll see the entrance to Port Bougainvillea. Port Bougainvillea began life as the North Key Largo Yacht Club in 1974. Around 1975 the whole of the Keys became an "area of critical state concern (ACSC)" and numerous laws and processes put in place to limit growth and development. However, in typical Keys fashion, everyone pretty much ignored it and progress marched forward. According to some reports, but the mid-80's, there were several dozen "illegal" projects actually in the works, including some 3000 units at Port Bougainvillea. Around that same time, the builder defaulted on construction loans and the project was abandoned. The area is now part of Key Largo Hammock State Park and you can walk back there to what is essentially a ghost town of abandoned homes, docks and other buildings.
Another mile or so down the road, and you'll intersect the main highway in Key Largo around MM-106. A left will take you down the road toward Key West, and a right will take you back up toward Jewfish Creek and the 18-mile stretch, but why would you want to do that?
No comments:
Post a Comment