Encyclopedia
The
Florida Keys is an
archipelago, a string of about 1700 islands in the southeast
United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the
Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of
Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to
Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited
Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the
Florida Straits, dividing the
Atlantic Ocean to the east from the
Gulf of Mexico to the west, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of
Key West is just 90
miles from
Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 23.5 and 25.5 degrees North latitude, in the subtropics. More than 95 percent of the land area lies in
Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into
Miami-Dade County, primarily in the city of
Islandia, Florida. The total land area is 355.6 km² . As of the
2000 census the population was 79,535, with an average density of 223.66/km² , although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of
Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.
The city of Key West is the county seat of
Monroe County, which consists of a section on the mainland that is almost entirely in
Everglades National Park, and the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas.
Origins
The Florida Keys are the exposed portions of an ancient
coral reef, with very little sand.
The northernmost island arising from the ancient reef formation is
Elliott Key, in
Biscayne National Park. North of Elliott Key are several small transitional keys, composed of sand built up around small areas of exposed ancient reef. Further north,
Key Biscayne and places north are barrier islands, built up of sand.
The Florida Keys have taken their present form as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or
ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the
Sangamon interglacial raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida
plateau, stretching south and then west from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. This reef formed the Key Largo
limestone that is exposed on the surface from Soldier Key to the southeast portion of
Big Pine Key and the Newfound Harbor Keys. The types of
coral that formed Key Largo limestone can be identified on the exposed surface of these keys.
Starting about 100,000 years ago the
Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the coral reef and surrounding
marine sediments. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below the contemporary level. The exposed reefs and sediments were heavily eroded. Acidic water, which can result from decaying vegetation, dissolves limestone. Some of the dissolved limestone redeposited as a denser
cap rock, which can be seen as outcrops overlying the Key Largo and Miami limestones throughout the Keys. The limestone that eroded from the reef formed
oolites in the shallow sea behind the reef, and together with the skeletal remains of
bryozoans, formed the Miami limestone that is the current surface bedrock of the lower Florida peninsula and the lower keys from Big Pine Key to Key West. To the west of Key West the ancient reef is covered by recent calcareous sand.
Major islands
U.S. Highway 1, the "
Overseas Highway" runs over the inhabited islands of the Florida Keys. The islands are listed in order from north and east to south and west.
Upper keys
- Transitional keys
- Soldier Key
- Ragged Keys
- Boca Chita Key
- Sands Key
- True Florida keys, exposed ancient coral reefs
- Elliott Key
- Adams Key
- Reid Key
- Rubicon Keys
- Totten Key
- Old Rhodes Key
- Key Largo
- Plantation Key
- Windley Key
- Upper Matecumbe Key
- Lower Matecumbe Key
Middle keys
...
- Conch Key
- Duck Key
- Grassy Key
- Deer Key
- Key Vaca
- Boot Key
Lower keys
...
Outlying islands
These are accessible by boat.
- among others
Transportation
Most islands are connected by the
Overseas Highway. There has been a railway, but in 1935 its operation was discontinued. See also the history section.
History
Overseas Railway
The Keys were long accessible only by water. This changed with the completion of
Henry Flagler's
Overseas Railway in the early 1910s. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his
Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West with an ambitious series of over-sea railroad trestles.
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
- Main article: Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
One of the worst hurricanes to strike the U.S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, Monday Sept. 2. Winds were estimated to have gusted to 200 mph, raising a storm surge more than 17 feet above sea level that washed over the islands. More than 400 people were killed, though some estimates say that more than 600 died in the terrible storm.
The Labor Day Hurricane is one of only three hurricanes to make landfall at Category 5 strength on the U.S. coast since reliable weather records began . The other storms were
Camille and
Andrew .
In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. Hundreds of World War I veterans working on the roadway as part of a government relief program were housed in unreinforced buildings in three construction camps in the Upper Keys. When the evacuation train failed to reach the camps before the storm, more than 200 veterans perished. Their deaths caused anger and charges of mismanagement that led to a congressional investigation.
The storm also ended the 23-year run of the Overseas Railway; the damaged tracks were never rebuilt, and the Overseas Highway replaced the railroad as the main transportation route from Miami to Key West.
Seven Mile Bridge
One of the longest bridges when it was built, the
Seven Mile Bridge connects Key Vaca to
Bahia Honda Key in the Lower Keys. True to its name, the piling-supported concrete bridge is seven miles long. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that an older bridge crossed .
After the destruction of the Keys railway by the
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways.
U.S. Route 1 runs the length of the Keys and up the East Coast to
Maine; the Keys section is also called the
Overseas Highway.
Conch Republic
In 1982, the
United States Border Patrol had established a roadblock and inspection points on US Highway 1, stopping all northbound traffic returning to the mainland at
Florida City, to search vehicles for illegal drugs and illegal immigrants. The Key West City Council repeatedly complained about the roadblocks, which were a major inconvenience for people traveling from Key West, and hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.
After various unsuccessful complaints and attempts to get a legal injunction against the blockade failed in federal court in Miami, on 23 April, 1982 Key West mayor Dennis Wardlow and the city council declared the independence of the Keys, calling it the "
Conch Republic". After one minute of secession, he surrendered to an officer of the Key West Naval Air Station , and requested one billion dollars in "foreign aid".
The stunt succeeded in generating great publicity for the Keys' plight, and the inspection station roadblock was removed. It also provided a new source of revenue for the Keys, and the Conch Republic has participated in later protests.
Environment
The Keys are in the subtropics between 24 and 25 degrees north latitude. The climate and environment are closer to that of the Caribbean than the rest of Florida, though unlike the Caribbean's volcanic islands, the Keys were built by plants and animals.
The Upper Keys islands are remnants of large coral reefs, which became fossilized and exposed as sea level declined. The Lower Keys are composed of sandy-type accumulations of limestone grains produced by plants and marine organisms.
The natural habitats of the Keys are upland forests, inland wetlands and shoreline zones. Soil ranges from sand to marl to rich, decomposed leaf litter. In some places, "caprock" covers the ground. Rain falling through leaf debris becomes acidic and dissolves holes in the limestone, where soil accumulates and tree roots find purchase.
The climate is subtropical and the Keys are the only frost-free place in Florida. There are two main "seasons": hot, wet, and humid from about June through October, and somewhat drier and cooler weather from November through May. Many plants grow slowly or go dormant in the dry season. Some native trees are deciduous, and drop their leaves in the winter or with spring winds.
The Keys have distinctive plant and animals species, some found nowhere else in America, as the Keys define the northern extent of their ranges. The climate also allows many imported plants to thrive. Nearly any houseplant known to commerce, and most landscape plants of the South, can thrive in the Keys climate. Some exotic species which arrived as landscape plants now invade and threaten natural areas.
Some plants that seem to define the Keys are not native, including coconut palm, bougainvillea, hibiscus, and papaya.
The well-known and very sour
Key lime is a naturalized species, apparently introduced from the
Yucatán Peninsula of
Mexico, where it had been previously been introduced from
Malaysia by explorers from
Spain. The tree grows vigorously and has thorns, and produces golf-ball-size yellow fruit which is particularly acidic and uniquely fragrant. Naturally,
Key lime pie was invented here as well.
The Keys are also home to unique animal species, including the
Key deer, protected by the National Key Deer Refuge, and the American
crocodile. About 70 miles west of Key West is
Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the most isolated and therefore well-preserved in the world. The name derives from the fact that when Spanish explorers arrived no fresh water could be found, and the small hump-shaped islands look like tortoise shells from a distance.
The waters surrounding the Keys are part of a protected area known as the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Tropical cyclones
The Keys are regularly threatened by
tropical storms and
hurricanes, leading to evacuations to the mainland. Untouched for many years, a carefree attitude led many residents to view "mandatory" evacuations as "voluntary" and "voluntary" evacuation orders as nothing at all. The attitude proved dangerous when
Hurricane Georges , after tearing up much of the
Caribbean, caused damage and extensive flooding in the Lower Keys in 1998, before making landfall in
Mississippi. In 2005, Hurricanes
Katrina,
Wilma, and
Rita affected the Keys, causing widespread damage and flooding.
Tropical cyclones present special dangers and challenges to the entire Keys. Because no area of the islands is more than 20 feet above sea level , and water surrounds the islands, nearly every neighborhood is subject to devastating flooding as well as hurricane winds. In response, many homes in the Keys are built on concrete stilts with the first floor being not legally habitable and enclosed by breakaway walls that are not strongly attached to the rest of the house. Nonetheless, illegal enclosures inhabited by people are not uncommon.
Because of the threat from storm surge, evacuations are routinely ordered when the
National Weather Service issues a hurricane watch or warning, and are sometimes ordered for a tropical storm warning. Evacuation of the Keys depends on causeways and the two-lane highway to the mainland. Time estimates for evacuating the entire Keys range from 12 to 24 hours. Evacuation estimates are significant in emergency planning, of course, but also because they are a factor in local and state regulations for controlling development. The building permit allocation was increased in 2005 when local governments reduced estimates for evacuation.
In the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, the Keys were under mandatory evacuation orders several times. In August, 2004,
Hurricane Charley passed about 70 miles west of
Key West, bringing tropical storm winds to the lower keys. The lower keys were evacuated in preparation for
Hurricane Ivan in September, 2004 and Hurricane Dennis in July, 2005, but neither hurricane came close enough to the Keys to do much damage.
Hurricane Katrina, which went on to devastate parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, moved through south Florida in August, 2005 and tracked southwest past Key West, causing minor damage and flooding.
Hurricane Rita, which went on to destroy parts of Louisiana and Texas, grew from a tropical storm to a Category 2 hurricane as it moved westward from the Bahamas, passing south of Key West and causing damage and surge flooding as far north as Key Largo. In October, 2005,
Hurricane Wilma became the most devastating hurricane to hit the Keys in decades when it passed just northwest of
Key West. The city was left under 3 to 6 feet of water from the storm surge, and major flooding was reported throughout the Keys up to Key Largo.
Culture and recreation
The "hurricane bravado" is part of the Keys' laid-back atmosphere, as is the somewhat separatist "
Conch Republic" attitude. Life is easygoing, with the major industries being tourism and fishing. Ecotourism is also part of this, with many visitors
scuba diving in the area's protected waters. A new ferry now takes riders between Key West and Fort Myers, due north on the mainland, along the western edge of Florida Bay.
Key West has long been noted as a gay vacation destination, and is home to the United States' first Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
References
- Jeff, Ripple . The Florida Keys: the Natural Wonders of an Island Paradise, Photographs by Bill Keogh, Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 0-89658-262-0.
- - accessed January 28 2006
External links
