Thursday, October 23, 2014
Woke up to rain this morning. A tropical storm seems to have stationed itself over the Keys and it is supposed to rain a bunch over the next couple days. The pattern however seems to dissipate a little during the later morning into early afternoon hours. Geez, just our luck to have this happen during our Keys visit.
It kind of puts a damper on things. We went to a nearby visitor center in Key Largo early today. We had questions about Key West regarding parking and got some worthwhile tips. We also asked about inside, out of the rain, activities we might consider while here in Key Largo. The answer was, “This is not an area with any indoor activities, other than shopping.” Swell! Well they did have WiFI, so we caught up on emails, etc.
From here we drove down US1 to Windley Key, a limestone coral fossil park. As some of you may know, Dan developed an interest in the construction of the Florida East Coast RR extension to Key West. The project was undertaken by Henry Flagler. In the 1800s Flagler was a partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. We’ll develop the story as we go, but at Windley Key, Flagler found a great supply of limestone to use for his RR bed. The area was 13 feet higher than the rest of the Keys, so no fear it would flood.
This wall was mined by Flagler for his railroad. The process involved drilling down every few inches, then dropping in some dynamite. Boom, you now have the crushed limestone. Note the drill marks that remain on the wall. The following are close ups of the surface.
This mound of limestone is actually a fossilized bed of coral. Today you can walk along the walls of the quarry and see all sorts of coral fossils. After the railroad was completed to Windley Key in 1912. Slabs of polished coral, called Keystone, were then taken from the quarry for decorative panels, walls, and tables. They were delivered by the FEC RR. The Quarry was active until the 60s.
Henry Flagler was a partner with Rockefeller in Standard Oil, owning about half the company. When the company went public Flagler owned nearly half the stock. He then retired (sort of) but pursued various business opportunities along Florida’s east coast. His Florida East Coast Railway that started in Jacksonville, had worked its way to Miami.
Flagler saw an opportunity, there were plans for Key West to become a major port and his railway could become a commercial link with Miami. It took 10 years to build and Flagler, at age 82, finally got to ride his rail to Key West. The train operated for about 15 years, but never had the success Flagler envisioned.
On September 2, 1935 a category 6 hurricane struck the Keys. Hundreds died. The hurricane took out about a mile of the track and toppled the railcars containing people the train was trying to evacuate. The only thing left on the track was the engine. Already nearly bankrupt, FEC RR was sold to the state of Florida. They tore out the rail and put in the highway, US1. Much of Flagler’s old rail bed is the base for US1, including his amazing pilings and arches. More on those in a later post.
A memorial was erected for all those killed in the 1935 hurricane on the location at Matecumbe Keys where the devastation was worst. A crypt lies in front containing the cremated remains of hundreds killed.
The base and surfaces are from Flagler’s quarry in Windkey.
Our final stop today was at the Bass Pro Offshore Fishing Shop. The draw here is inside the store. A sister of Hemmingway’s boat’s Pilar has been restored and contains some Hemmingway memorabilia. His original boat is a rotted hulk in Cuba. The store is pretty interesting.
Friday October 24, 2014
It rained cats and dogs all night. We were hoping we would not find ourselves adrift this morning when we got up. And it is still raining at noon. So we have headed to the library to use their WiFi. If the rain lets up later, we may have time to hit a couple of other places on our to-do list.
A while back we did a post about a boat ride in Everglades City, here is a You Tube video.
Tomorrow we move down the Keys about 50 miles to Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key. We got more cool stuff planned, so don’t unfasten your seat belt.
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