Unusual Florida Islands and Their Conch Republic Secession From the United States

If the former Tonight Show host Jay Leno went Jay Walking again to ask the man and the woman in the street how many Keys are in Florida, he would receive some interesting replies.

First of all, some would ask, "Do you mean keys for locks?"

Some individuals might not understand that a "key" in this instance is a geographic structure.This type of key is named after the Spanish "cayo" that we translate as "small island" or "islet."

Others might guess from pop songs they have heard and from fleeting references to Ernest Hemingway in films that there exist perhaps three, four, or a dozen islands in a line called an "archipelago."

Actually, sources cite up to 1,700 Florida Keys. This is because many are very small, uninhabited, and discovered west of Key West. Many have no names.

How many do you know besides Key Largo and Key West?

Perhaps the most interesting element of the Florida Keys is their 23 April 1982 secession of Key West from the United States. Some residents of the Keys today tell me that they still wish to separate from the Union.

An act of Congress eventually allowed the residents of the Florida Keys to be awarded dual citizenship as American citizens and as Conch citizens (named after the local sea animal).

In April 1982 the US Border Patrol blockaded US Highway 1 at the entrance to the Florida Mainland at Florida City, Dade County. Citizens of the Keys felt that they had been thrown out of the Union. After the blockade stuck, officers required to see proof of citizenship from everyone driving up Highway 1 through the Keys to the mainland.

Incensed, the Mayor of Key West went to Miami City Hall to protest these actions and ask the blockade to withdraw. Failure of this saw Mayor Denis Wardlow become Premier of the Conch Republic, which rebelled against the US for 60 seconds and then surrendered to ask for a billion dollars in Foreign Aid.

The Rebellion of 1995

War nearly occurred in on September 20, 1995 when the US Army Reserve's 478th Civil Affairs Battalion began to exercise a simulation of invading a foreign land. Their leadership did not tell the US Government or anyone on Key West about their ensuing drill. It was quite the surprise (source: military.gov).

The army battalion landed and pretended that Floridians were foreign nationals!

Dennis Wardlow ordered water cannons on any and all available Key West water craft to be ready to shoot back. Thus prepared, he filed an official grievance with the Department of Defense (DOD). The US Army battalion actually went along with a ceremony of surrender on September 22. Florida won the war games.

Official National Website of Conch Republic

• Conch Republic.com: We seceded where others failed. We have passports and official Conch Republic gear.
• The National Anthem of Conch Republic is sung by the Key Lime Pie Band in the video below.

Changes 60,000 to 100,000 Years Ago

Sometime in the distant past of Earth, a line of corals formed west of what is now mainland Florida with the help of sea creatures and native plants.

Once totally submerged, parts of the coral line began to emerge from receding waters to become islands.

Some geological survey data sources state that a few of the Keys did not appear above water until sometime between 1920 to 1930 in the 20th century.

In the last several decades, tidal waters have been rising once more and some of the Keys may lost a bit of land area from their shorelines, just as has Alaska and New Jersey, among others.

Some islands, like Tortugas bank are still submerged west of Dry Tortugas National Park, which is a group of the coral islands that is uninhabited except by native wildlife and plants.

The website KeyHistory.org suggests that there are at least 882 charted islands in the coral chain that extends from about 30 miles southwest of Miami to Key Largo and extends to uninhabited places west of the popular endpoint of Key West.

Key West is about 113 miles from the eastern terminus of the major highway cutting through all the islands along bridges and land.

A fantastic vacation includes driving the length of the highway and stopping on each island to enjoy its pleasures and history.

• North Key Largo and Key Largo Island
• Tavernier
• Plantation Island
• Windley
• Upper Matecumbe
• Tea Table
• Indian
• Lignumvitae
• Lower Matecumbe
• Islamorada

Interesting Attractions

• The Christ of the Abyss : At time 5:15 on the above nine-minute video, you will see the school of fish part to show The Christ of the Abyss statue. It was sculpted by Guido Galletti to honor Dario Gonzatti, the first Italian diver to use SCUBA gear. The Key Largo statue was presented to the Underwater Society of America in New York in 1962 and taken to Key Largo in 1965. Located 25 beneath the sea, if offers an incredible aura of peace.

• John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park - Key Largo, Florida Keys

  John Pennekamp State Park located in Key Largo, Florida Keys. The only concessionaire operating inside the park. Featuring glass-bottom boats, snorkel, sailing, scuba tours and family water fun.

• Keep Them Flying

  Florida Keys Wild Bird Center, Tavernier, FL. Rescue, Rehab, Release. 5 acres of native hammock & shore-front property. Over 20 species of native & migratory wild birds.

• NOAA Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

  The official website for the NOAA Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This site contains all of the official information on current Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary projects and events.

• Craig
• Fiesta
• Long
• Layton
• Conch
• Little Conch
• Duck Key
• Grassy
• Crawl
• Little Crawl
• Long Point
• Fat Deer
• Vaca
• Marathon
• Key Colony Beach
• Boot
• Knights

Marathon in the Middle

Marathon is the major element in this line, featuring an airport and many activities, like tours of the Dolphin Research Center, the Turtle Hospital, Crane Hammock Point, and Sombrero Beach. The Seven Mile Bridge is here as well.

You can find 5-Star restaurants and resort hotels on Marathon, but also "Botels", which are motels with rooms on the waterfront that include a boat slip. Annual festivals on Marathon Key include Arts and Seafood celebrations and besides fine diing, there is casual dining aong the lines of shops in the business district.

Middle Line Attractions

• Pigeon Key

  Visit a museum about railroad great Henry Flagler, who built the first bridges linking Miami to Key West to use for passenger trains. Seven Mile Bridge runs past this island.

• Swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Research Center Marathon FL

  Great family fun, meet and swim with dolphins & observe sea lions. Spend an hour or stay all day, fun-filled, exciting programs demonstrating these amazing animals

• The Turtle Hospital - Helping Sea Turtles Survive

• Pigeon
• Money
• Little Duck
• Missouri
• Ohio
• Sunshine
• Bahia Honda
• Spanish Harbor
• Scout (West Summerland until the year 2010)
• No Name
• Big Pine
• Torch
• Little Torch
• Middle Torch
• Big Torch
• Ramrod
• Summerland
• Knockemdown
• Cudjoe
• Sugarloaf
• Park
• Lower Sugarloaf
• Saddlebunch
• Shark
• Geiger
• Big Coppitt
• East Rockland
• Rockland
• Boca Chica
• Raccoon
• Stock Island
• Key West

Highlights of the Lower Keys

• Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key: This is a state park with an open public beach. Great Florida Keys Beaches and activities for all of the public.
• Hemingway Home and Museum: Located at 907 Whitehead Street in Old Town Key West. The six-toed cats lurking about are likely the descendants of Ernest Hemingway's cats (see the tab marked Our Cats).

• Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society in Key West, Florida is a museum that showcases gold, silver, and varieties of treasures recovered from shipwrecks in the New World. View treasures from the Atocha, Santa Margarita, St. John' Wreck, and others.
• National Key Deer Refuge | US Fish and Wildlife Service - The National Key Deer Refuge was established in 1957 to protect and preserve Key Deer and other wildlife resources in the Florida Keys. The refuge is located in the lower Florida Keys and currently consists of approximately 9,200 acres of land, under ongoing preservation work.

Key West Wartime History

Built beginning in 1845, Fort Zachary Taylor was important to the Union Army during the American Civil War, but was remodeled and used in the Spanish American War in the 1889.

The fort was not completed until about 1866 after 20 years of construction, but when it was, it included a type of flush toilets flushed by the Gulf of Mexico tides. It also had a desalination system for creating fresh drinking water.

A National Historic Place and National Landmark, Fort Zachary Taylor is home to the largest cadre of Civil War cannons in the USA.

The beaches surrounding this landmark are used for swimming and snorkeling expeditions. There are also free BBQ grills, bathrooms, and changing cabanas for users.

Last of the Lower Keys

• Sigsbee
• Fleming
• Sunset
• Wisteria

Outliers: The Mule Keys

• Mule
• Crawfish
• Archer
• Joe Ingram
• Big Mullet
• Barracouta
• Cottrell
• Man
• Little Mullet
• Ballast
• Woman
• Boca Grande

Outliers: Marquesas Keys

Outliers: Dry Tortugas Keys

• The largest in is group is Loggerhead Key, which sits among Garden, Bush, Long, East, Hospital, and Middle Keys. The tall ship Avanti wrecked off the coast of Loggerhead in 1904 and was discovered in 1971.
• Dry Tortugas National Park was established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 as a monument to Thomas Jefferson and upgrades to a national park in 1992.

Outliers: Tortugas Banks

• These are completely submerged and made of coral and limestone.

• Clambake. Artist: Elvis Presley
• Down In The Florida Keys. Artist:Tom T. Hall.
• Gulf Coast Highway - Darius Rucker & Nanci Griffith
• Key Largo - Written by Berti Higgins.
• Kokomo (on Grassy Key). Artist: the Beach Boys.
• Margaritaville. Artist Jimmy Buffet.
• The Florida Keys Song. Artist Gerd Rube

Sources

• Conch Tour Train
• History Lives in the Florida Keys
• Ten Reasons to Visit the Florida Keys. TravelWorld International.