Islamorada - The Minor Islands

While Islamorada consists primarily of Upper Matecumbe and Lower Matecumbe Keys, several other minor and outlying islands make up the community, and some of the most stunning events in the history of the Keys happened here.

Islamorada's minor islands and channels

Leaving Upper Matecumbe Key, you will cross the Tea Table Relief (MM 79.5, bridge #6 on your way down).  During the days of railroad construction, Henry Flagler's engineers not only built rails and bridges, but they also spent a great deal of time constructing land as well.  In fact, long before the railroad was ultimately destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, other hurricanes severely damaged or destroyed other sections of the railroad requiring repair or reconstruction.  Engineers had done so much filling of the gaps between the islands that oftentimes the water had no place to go around the islands and had nowhere to go but OVER the islands.

The section between Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys was like this.  The land that exists there today was "fill" that was dredged up and dropped down to support the railroad, and, later, the highway.  The first piece of land here is connected to Tea Table Key, where there is a small public beach and a private home.  Next, you'll cross the Tea Table Channel (MM 79, bridge #7) to Indian Key Fill, barely wide enough for the road.  At mile marker 78, you'll cross the Indian Key Channel (bridge #8) to another small fill.

As you cross the Indian Key Channel, glance to your left (Ocean Side) and you will see Indian Key.  To your right, you'll see Lignumvitae Key.  Finally, at MM 77.5, you will cross the Lignumvitae Channel (bridge #9) to Lower Matecumbe Key.

While there is little to see or do on the road here, the history of this area is worth noting.

Indian Key

Despite the fact that neither the railroad nor the road ever touched Indian Key, its early history is some of the most important in the Upper Keys.  The first American settlers on Indian Key arrived in the mid-1820's, and by 1830 the island was home to around 50 people and two general stores.

In the early 1820's, John Jacob Housman of Staten Island, NY, stole his father's boat and set sail for the Caribbean.  He managed to shipwreck off of Key West and he and his boat were salvaged by Key West wreckers.  Wreckers would rescue boats and their cargoes wrecked on the reef for a portion of the goods carried aboard and was an enormous industry in Key West at the time, making Key West one of the richest cities in the country.

Housman became disenchanted with the wrecking operations and admiralty courts in Key West and soon set up shop on Indian Key, where he envisioned setting up his own port, admiralty court and customs house.  He bought several homes, a store and a bowling alley on Indian Key and set about building his empire.  As Indian Key grew and prospered, it became a popular stop-off point for vessels bound for Key West.  Around the same time, in 1836, Monroe County split into two, with the northern and eastern half becoming Dade County.  While Key West remained the seat of Monroe County, Housman petitioned for, and eventually won, the seat of Dade County on Indian Key. 

Also around the same time, the Second Seminole War was in full swing.  The Seminoles had won several major battles in and around Fort Lauderdale and Cape Florida in 1836.  By 1837 they were attacking in Key Largo.  Housman organized a militia of 30 settlers and a handful of slaves to defend Indian Key from attack.

Meanwhile, in 1838, botanist Dr. Henry Perrine moved, with his family, from Mexico to Indian Key.  Dr. Perrine knew of the Indian unrest, but moved here anyway and set up a business growing tropical plants.  Many of the plants here and on nearb Lignumvitae Key, to this day, are a result of Dr. Perrine's operations here.

In March 1840, Housman submitted a proposal to the Florida government to capture or kill all of the Indians in South Florida.  For this, he would charge $200 per head.  The government never acted on the proposal and it's not quite clear whether the proposal had anything to do with what happened next.

On the night of August 7, 1840, Indians from mainland Florida rowed across to Upper Matecumbe Key, then in the middle of the night attacked Indian Key.  Housman and his wife escaped to Key West.  Dr. Perrine successfully hid his family, but was himself killed by Indians.  6 other residents were killed in the attack and the entire island was burned.

Housman would die the following year in Key West.  The Navy moved into Indian Key from nearby Tea Table Key.  For the next sixty years the island would change hands from the Navy to the Army to several landholders and would maintain a population of 50-60.  The Army used it as a base of operations to construct the Alligator Reef lighthouse.  Henry Flagler acquired it in 1909 and used it as a base of operations to construct the Indian Key Fill (see map above), and then located his Central Supply operation on the newly built fill.  By 1913, the island was essentially abandoned and remained that way until 1971 when it was converted to a state park.

Today, the state runs launches out to the island daily, or you can visit the island by renting a boat.  Little remains of the extensive development on the island from the 1830's - a few foundations and some graves.  Thousands of people roar by every day, just 2000 feet away on US-1 with no idea what happened here 170 years ago.

Upper Matecumbe Key

69 days to go until we're back in the Keys!

The area around Islamorada is rich with history, and two of the bloodiest events in the history of the Keys happened right here on or around the Matecumbes.  This is one of my favorite parts of the island chain.

Lower Matecumbe Key had freshwater wells, and because of that, this part of the Keys was always of interest to transient seafarers.  The Spanish were exploring this area as early as the 1500's.  There is evidence of Indian populations even older than that.  By the 1820's, Indian Key, just south and east of Upper Matecumbe, was not only prospering, but was establishing itself as the seat of Dade County.  By the 1840's, it was all gone, however (more on that later).

By 1909, the railroad had reached the area, but there was little development or change. It wasn't until the highway arrived in 1928 that change would come.  Tourists now had easy access by car from Miami and south Florida to the great fishing, but all that was about to change.

The morning of September 1, 1935 started like any other morning in the Upper Keys.  There were no radar or advanced forecasting at the time.  On that day, residents got their first warning that a storm was on its way and might cross their paths.  On the night of Sunday the 1st, the storm crossed the Bahamas as a relatively small category I hurricane.  Over the next 24 hours, though, the storm exploded in strength until it became the strongest storm ever recorded, and approached the Upper Keys on Labor Day, September 2, 1935, with almost no warning of how strong it had become.

Track of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (NOAA)

At the time, a "bonus army" of World War I veterans were working in the Matecumbes on the Overseas Highway.  The veterans lived in work camps and fortunately, there were not many other full time residents at the time.  Late in the afternoon on the 2nd, the Florida East Coast Railroad dispatched a rescue train from Miami to evacuate the veterans and local families to higher ground.  However, it was Labor Day and manpower was short.  More time was lost as the train was turned around in Homestead to "back down" the Keys to allow for quicker return.  The train was now racing the hurricane to the Upper Keys.

By 5:30 that night, hurricane force winds were already battering Islamorada and the train was still working it's way down, stopping along the way to pick up anyone and everyone trying to flee the storm.  By 8:30, the train arrived at Upper Matecumbe at the same time the storm's fury started to peak.  Legend has it that the clocks in Islamorada stopped at 8:30 that night.  With winds as high as 200mph, the train was blown right off the tracks, except for the locomotive. Miles and miles of track was destroyed.  The highway was destroyed.  Parts of the Matecumbes were stripped down to bare coral.

More than 400 bodies were recovered after the storm, and countless others were swept to sea.  Those that survived did so by floating in houses or taking shelter in fixed structures like cisterns, and even in the locomotive itself.  With no means of getting into and out of the Keys to transport the bodies, they were burned in four large fires over the next several days, and today their ashes remain in the Hurricane Monument.

The Hurricane Monument stands just Oceanside of the highway right around MM 82.  It is worth the stop to take a look.  The monument sits atop a mass grave containing the ashes of the 400+ bodies burned in 1935.

In the aftermath of the storm, the railroad never rebuilt.  The right-of-way fell into receivership and was purchased by the state for $640,000.  The state used the railroad bed and many of the bridges to complete the missing links in the Overseas Highway.  Most of the bridges still stand to this day and are visible parallel to the newer, more modern bridges that now carry the highway.

Two miles below the monument, you'll cross the Tea Table Relief bridge (#6) and leave Upper Matecumbe Key for Tea Table Key and the "outlying" islands of Islamorada.

Islamorada - Plantation and Windley Keys

70 days til our Keys trip begins!

Plantation and Windley Keys are the first two islands you'll come to after you finally leave Key Largo behind you.  Leaving Key Largo, you will cross the third of your 42 bridges, over Tavernier Creek, at MM 91 and end up on Plantation Key.  Plantation Key also marks the transition from Key Largo to the town of Islamorada.  Islamorada essentially consists of all the islands between and including Plantation Key and Lower Matecumbe Key (MM 91 to MM 70-ish).

If Key Largo's primary attraction is diving, then Islamorada's is surely fishing.  Islamorada bills itself as the "Fishing Capital of the World", and judging by the number of charter boats, outfitters, it's a well-deserved title.  If you're in the Keys for an extended period of time and world-class fishing is what you're after, Islamorada is the place to go.

The Islamorada area is also the setting for some of the most interesting (and certainly the bloodiest) events in the history of the Keys.  Most of this occurred in the Matecumbes, and the outlying islands of Islamorada, which we'll talk more about later.

Plantation Key (MM 90.8 - 85.6)

Plantation Key covers the area from MM 90.8 to MM 85.6.  Today, Plantation Key is a highly residential area with just a few places to stay and eat.  There is not terribly much to do here, or see for that matter if you are passing through on your trip down to Key West.  Plantation Key is named for the pineapple plantations that existed here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  When the railroad came through in 1909, there was a railroad station here, although historical records suggest there was little more than 30 or so homes on the island.

If you happen to be staying in the area, one of the only sandy beaches to be found for miles around is at the Islamorada Founders Park at MM 87 on the Bayside.  This park has a small sandy stretch of beach (man made, of course), picnic areas, and an enormous swimming pool if you prefer fresh water.

Just below Founders Park is another residential area, after which you'll cross Snake Creek (your fourth bridge) to Windley Key.

Windley Key (MM 85.5 - 83.7)

Windley Key has a slightly more rich history than Plantation Key.  Windley Key was the location, at two different times in history, of quarries built to mine coral rock for construction projects.  During the Great Depression, a quarry was established on the north side of the railroad to mine coral for the construction of the Overseas Highway.  Keystone was also mined from this area as well - Keystone being a thin, highly polished cut of coral used in monuments and facades.  The best example of Keystone is in the Hurricane Monument a few miles south of here.

What was left behind when the mining was completed were large, open pits.  In the 1980's there was a plan to flood them and build condos around them, but environmentalists acted to preserve the quarries, and today the site is known as the  Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park (MM 85.2 Bayside).  Here you can walk down into the quarries and marvel at the preserved fossils in the walls and floor of the quarries.  It is probably the only place in the world where one can walk inside an ancient coral reef and is an interesting diversion if you have the time and are at all interested in the geology of the area or the ancient reef.

Just under a mile down the road, on the Ocean Side, another mining project took place closer to the start of the 20th century.  This time, the coral was used in the construction of the railroad.  Today, the quarries are full of water and teeming with sea life at an attraction known as Theatre of the Sea (MM 84.5, Ocean Side).  There are plenty of shows here including dolphin and sea lion shows.  You can also arrange for a dolphin encounter here as well.  Theatre of the Sea is also home to one of my favorite gift shops in all of the Keys.  Naturally, they have the normal assortment of T-shirts, many of which are dolphin- or other sea life-themed, seashells, and various other assorted knick-knacks.  They also have a nice assortment of books dealing with local history that are sometimes difficult to find in other places.  Both the gift shop and the lush gardens outside the gift shop are home to numerous cats that have the run of the facility.  Most of them are well-socialized and will let you play with them and pet them.  If you're missing your cat at home, stop in for your kitty fix here.

As you approach the Whale Harbor bridge take a look out the left hand side (headed south, the Ocean Side).  Two of the Upper Keys biggest party spots are right here.  If you're a landlubber, the Holiday Isle Resort is here, just north of the bridge.  The Holiday Isle has a raucous bunch of bars that have huge crowds on weekend nights.  Just past Holiday Isle, and out to sea a short ways, is the Sandbar.  On weekend afternoons, you'll find dozens of boats parked on the sandbar and a huge party happening on the water.  The only way to get out there is to rent a boat, which you can easily do just down the road in the Matecumbes.  If you've ever been to Destin, ths Sandbar is much like Crab Island in the Destin inlet.

Leaving Windley Key, cross the Whale Harbor bridge (MM 83.7, your fifth bridge) to arrive on Upper Matecumbe Key.

Tavernier

71 days to the Keys!

Tavernier is not an island, but rather another town on the island of Key Largo.  As you leave behind the strip malls and dive shops of Key Largo, the island turns more residential.  Tavernier is almost a "suburb" of Key Largo.

Around MM 92.5, on the left as you head down (Ocean Side), you'll see a turnoff for Harry Harris Park.  If you go down that road, Harry Harris Park is located in the area where the original town of Planter was located in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Planter was a stop on the railroad and was a community noted for growing pineapples and limes.  Two hurricanes pretty much wiped out the pineapple crop in Planter, and key limes were overtaken in popularity and availability by the larger Persian lime, essentially putting and end to farming in Key Largo.

Today, Tavernier is, by Keys standards, a sleepy little community of private homes, Bed & Breakfasts, and a few small shops.  The aforementioned Harry Harris park is a very nice, well-maintained park with a sandy stretch of beach on a small man-made lagoon and is a nice place to spend an afternoon if you're staying in the Key Largo area for a while.

Key Largo

As much as I'm fascinated by the history of the northern (upper) Keys, I've always been of the opinion that there's not a lot in Key Largo for the average tourist.  Key Largo, to me, is a town that people go to just to say they've been to the Keys when they don't quite have the time or the ambition to make it the last two or so hours to Key West.

Unless, of course, you're a diver, that is.  These days, the town of Key Largo, it seems, exists for two reasons.  One is to serve the neverending flow of traffic down into the Keys - cars that are full of kids that haven't eaten OR used a bathroom in at least a half hour since they left Florida City!  The second reason, of course, is the reef, more on that later.

The highway is four lanes here.  If you're curious, the two southbound lanes are where Flagler's railroad was in the early twentieth century.  The northbound lanes are where the original highway (mostly) was.  In some places, there is quite a lot of development BETWEEN the northbound and southbound lanes.  At Mile Marker 105.6, between the highway lanes, is where the original Key Largo railroad depot stood from 1910 until shortly after the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 wiped out the railroad.

Most of the island of Key Largo is densely populated - with people, motels, shops, restaurants, dive shops, and all manner of souvenir shops where one can get everything from T-shirts (3 for $10! the sign says) to seashell-encrusted toilet seats (seriously).  Even with four lanes of traffic, there are a lot of lights, a lot of cross streets, and a LOT of people turning into and out of the aforementioned shops, restaurants and motels.  All this combines to make for what can sometimes be a thoroughly dreadful traffic experience.

One might expect that being closest to the mainland, that Key Largo would have been the earliest settlement in the Keys.  But not so.  Key West had already gone through boom and bust several times over before Key Largo ever saw any serious settlement.  Even the arrival of the railroad did little to grow the area.  In the early days (mid-1800's), pineapple and lime farming was the mainstay of Key Largo, with the community at the time bing called Planter and situated more toward the southern end of present Key Largo.  But even into the 20th century there was no fresh water, no electricity and no way to communicate with the outside world save the daily train that came through.  It wasn't until the Navy brought fresh water through in the mid-40's in the form of a pipeline that the area began to grow.

Undoubtedly, the most popular attraction in Key Largo is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.  The entrance is on the Ocean Side at MM 102.5.  When the park was originally chartered, it consisted of nearly 100 square miles, every last bit of it completely under water.  This was sort of a problem, you see, because there was no place to build a parking lot, an administration building, a bathroom or anything else for that matter.  It took the generous donation of some private landholders to create the first bit of dry land in the park and yet more donations later to provide actual right-of-way to create a road out TO the park.

Today, there is a very nice visitor center, and inside is a very nice reef aquarium.  There is the obligatory film and gift shop that will do it's best to part you from your money.  Here also is where you can find out about everything from the beaches (manmade and not particularly exciting), boat rentals, snorkeling and dive trips, camping, and glass bottom boat rides.  Pennekamp is definitely worth a day trip if you've got the time to work it into your busy schedule, but you really do need to allot an entire day to it.  Don't try to do it on anything less.  And make sure you get there early, because the park DOES have a maximum capacity, and they DO reach it early sometimes.

I'm not a diver, but they tell me there is a nine-foot tall statue of Jesus out there at Key Largo Dry Rocks if that's your thing.

If diving is not so much your thing, you, like Luca Brasi, can swim with the fishes.  Or at least the dolphins.  There are several places to do this in Key Largo, all in the area right around Pennekamp.

But you're on your way to Key West.  So enough about Key Largo for now.  A couple of last things, though.  In case you're counting, the second bridge you cross (after either Jewfish Creek or Card Sound that got you here in the first place) is right in the middle of Key Largo over the Marvin Adams waterway - a man made channel right through the heart of Key Largo providing a way to get from one side of the island to the other without going the long way around.  Key Largo is over 25 miles long, so points on opposite shores that are mere yards apart as the crow flies would be 20 or more miles apart by water if it weren't for the cut.  And lastly?  Stop for Cuban coffee or a con leche at Denny's Latin Cafe around MM 100 on the bay side.  It's right across the street from the Holiday Inn, so you can go there after you see the African Queen.  Then get on down the road - don't waste too much time in Key Largo, there are so many better things to see and do.