Key Biscayne (Spanish: Cayo VizcaÃÆ'no ) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA , between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and is located south of Miami Beach and southeast Miami. The key is connected to Miami via Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947.
The northern part of Key Biscayne is home to Crandon Park, a county park. The center of the island consists of the incorporated Key Biscayne Village. The southern part of the island is now protected as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, adjacent to Biscayne National Park, one of two national parks in Miami-Dade County.
Video Key Biscayne
Geografi Edit
Key Biscayne, although named "key", is not geologically a part of the Florida Keys, but is a barrier island consisting of eroded sand from the Appalachian Mountains, brought to shore by the river and then moved along the coast from the north by the shore currents. There are no hard rocks near the surface of the island, only a weak "sandstone rock" layer to a depth of 100 feet (30 m) or more. Transport the sand beach to the south ends at Key Biscayne. In the 1850s Louis Agassiz noted that "[s] outh of Cape Florida, there is no more very soft sand to be seen." (The beaches of the Florida Keys, in contrast, consist mainly of fine shellfish shells.) Geologists believe that the island appeared around 2000 BC, as soon as the sea level stopped rising, as the sand was built to form new barrier islands south of the Coast Florida.
Key Biscayne extends north-south, tapering to a point at each end. Its length is about 5 miles (8.0 km) wide and 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km). The northern tip of the island is separated from another barrier island, Virginia Key, by Bear Cut. The southern end of the island is Cape Florida. The Cape Florida Channel separates the island from the Safety Valve, a shallow stretch of water cut off by tidal channels that stretches south about 9 miles (14 km) to Ragged Keys, on the northern tip of the Florida Keys. Only Soldier Key, about 200 x 100 yards (183 times 91 m), is located between Key Biscayne and The Ragged Keys. The Cape Florida Channel (ten to eleven feet [three to three feet deep] was far away in 1849) and Bear Cut (four feet [slightly over a meter] deep in 1849) is the deepest natural channel to Biscayne Bay. They provided the only access for ships to Biscayne Bay until the dredged channels were dredged from the beginning of the 20th century. In 1849 the island had fine sandy beaches on the east side, and mangroves and lagoons on the western side. The island's average altitude is less than five feet (1.5 m) above sea level.
The guys from Key Biscayne are known as "Key Rats."
Key Biscayne is located on 25Ã, Â ° 41? 25? N 80Ã, Â ° 9? 54? W (25.690329, -80.165118).
Maps Key Biscayne
History Edit
Initial history Edit
The original inhabitant of Key Biscayne was Tequestas. The shells, bones and artifacts found on the island indicate extensive use by Tequesta. A large community emerged inhabiting the island between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew explored most of the vegetation from the southern tip of Key Biscayne. An archaeological survey of open lands found evidence of extensive dwellings.
Juan Ponce de LeÃÆ'³n charted Key Biscayne on his first mission to the New World in 1513. He baptized the island of Santa Marta and claimed it for the Spanish Crown. He reports that he found fresh springs on the island. Ponce de LeÃÆ'³n invokes the bay behind the island (Biscayne Bay) Chequescha , a variant form of Tequesta.
The next Europeans known to have visited the Key Biscayne area were Pedro MenÃÆ'Â,à © ndez de Avilà ©. In 1565, his ship took refuge in Biscayne Bay from a storm. The relationship was established with Tequesta, and in 1567 a mission was established on the mainland across the bay from Key Biscayne. The mission was abandoned three years later in 1570. No other mission was established on the mainland until 1743, but was withdrawn a few months later.
Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda recounts that a sailor from Bay of Biscay, called Viscayno or Biscayno, had lived on the eastern coast of Florida for a while after the shipwreck. Map of the 17th century shows Cayo de Biscainhos , possibly originally Key Biscayne .
The first known European settlers in Key Biscayne were Pedro Fornells, his family and his household. Fornells and his wife Mariana were the Menorcan survivors of the New Smyrna colony in northern Florida. Pedro and Mariana have joined other Menorcans in seeking refuge in St. Louis. Augustine after leaving New Smyrna. They lived in the city after Spain regained Florida in 1783. Fornells received the Royal Grant for 175 acres (71 ha) at the southern end of Key Biscayne in 1805. The grant required Fornells to stay on the island and build cultivation within six months.. He moved his household to the island, but after six months, his family returned to St. Petersburg. Augustine, left a caretaker of Vincent on the island.
Territorial year Edit
After the First Seminole War and an agreement with Spain, Florida became US territory in 1821. Under pressure from US settlers, Seminole and Black Seminoles began migrating to central and southern Florida. In the early nineteenth century, African-American slaves and Black Seminoles fled to the Bahamas from Cape Florida, including hundreds in the 1820s, to escape American slaves.
In 1824 Mary Ann Channer Davis, who had moved to St. Augustine with her husband in 1821, bought Fornells 'claim to Key Biscayne from one of Fornells' heirs for $ 100. Mary and her husband, William Davis, the US Marshal, may know of plans to build a lighthouse on the Florida coast somewhere between St. Augustine and Key West, and know that Key Biscayne is the possible location for it. Mary and William sold three hectares (about a quarter of a hectare) of their new land on the southern tip of the island (Cape Florida) to the US government for US $ 225. The federal government built a Cape Florida lighthouse on the ground in 1825.
In the early 1820s, about 300 Black Seminoles found their way from Key Biscayne to Andros Island in the Bahamas with sailing boats on the seafront and the Bahamas. In 1820 a traveler reported seeing 60 "Indians", 60 "runaway slaves", and 27 Bahamas destroyers preparing to leave Cape Florida. Although Key Biscayne is less suitable as a point of departure after the lighthouse is built, the Bahamas remain a refuge for escaped slaves. In the famous case in 1844, Jonathan Walker was caught "in the view of Cape Florida" with seven slaves fleeing on his ship. His punishment includes having his hand branded with the initials "SS" (for "thief slave"). John Greenleaf Whittier's Poems The Branded Hand was inspired by this incident.
The first US citizens to take permanent residence in Key Biscayne were Captain John Dubose, his wife, Margaret, and their five children in 1825, when Dubose became the first guard for the new Cape Florida Light, a post he held until the lighthouse was burned in 1836. The family was also accompanied by two of Margaret's former brothers. Dubose households grew during that time and reported in 1833 consisting of "eleven white and a few negroes". During his tenure as a lighthouse keeper, Dubose received hundreds of plants and seeds from Dr. Henry Perrine, US Consul in Campeche, Mexico, whom he planted on the island. In 1835 a massive storm hit the island, destroying lighthouses and guard houses, and placing the island under three feet of water, which killed almost every plant Dr. Perrine from Mexico.
War with Seminoles Edit
In 1836, during the Second Seminole War, the Seminoles attacked and burned the Cape Florida lighthouse, wounding the assistant responsible lighthouse keeper; His black assistant died of wounds. The lighthouse was not repaired and put back into commission until 1847.
A military post was erected at Key Biscayne in March 1838. His first commander was Lieutenant Colonel James Bankhead. The fort was originally known as Fort Dallas or Fort Bankhead, but was eventually renamed Fort Russell to Captain Samuel L. Russell. He was killed when Seminoles ambushed two boats on the Miami River in February 1839. In the summer of 1839, a total of 143 soldiers and sailors were stationed at Fort Russell. Several Seminole people captured during the war were held at Fort Russell until they could be placed aboard to be transferred to the Indian Territory.
A hospital was set up in Fort Russell for US Army, Marine, and Marine Corps personnel. In August 1840, the Army surgeons at the hospital treated 103 patients, including 23 for fever and 26 for dysentery. Dysentery is the leading cause of death in the castle, followed by malaria, tuberculosis, gunshot wounds and alcoholism.
Colonel Bankhead was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney in 1839. Colonel Harney had two previous encounters with Seminoles, the first battle in which the Head of Arpeika evaded capture, and the second in which Harney escaped only with his shirt and drawer from the beginning of the morning attack ( Massacre Harney) in his camp led by Chakaika Chief. In view of this experience, Harney implements an intensive training program in wars and forest battles for his subordinates. After Chakaika led an attack on Indian Key in August 1840, Harney left for the Everglades after Chakaika, and killed him in his own camp. The war subsided afterwards, with the active pursuit of the Seminoles which ended in 1842, although some Seminoles remained hidden in the Everglades.
As the war against the Seminoles continued, Mary and William Davis made plans to develop a town in Key Biscayne. They had a city plan printed in Philadelphia. The island was touted as an ideal destination "for health restoration". When Indian Key was named seating for the newly formed County Dade in 1836, the county determined that county courts would meet annually at Key Biscayne. At the end of 1839 the Post General of the United States approved the post office for Key Biscayne. The first two lots of the new city were sold to Lieutenant Colonel Harney for a total of US $ 1,000. There is no evidence that the post office ever opened; in 1842, the headmaster noted that the head of the designated post has not completed any of the requirements for opening a post office. No further sales from many cities were made after the purchase of Harney.
A complication arises when Venancio Sanchez of St. Augustine bought for US $ 400 half a portion of the old Fornells grant from another surviving heir, who lives in Havana. A feud quickly developed between Sanchez and Davis, with Sanchez demanding the division of property, and Davises refused to admit that Sanchez had a claim to the island. The Davises hopes that the restored lighthouse will be the center of their city, but all attempts to fix the lighthouse fail when the war is in progress. Shortly after the end of the war, Davises surrendered to Key Biscayne and moved to Texas. Their eldest son, Edmund J. Davis, was finally elected governor there.
Surveys and lighthouses Edit
Many shipwrecks that occur along the southeastern coast of Florida from Key Biscayne to Dry Tortugas are a cause of concern. Between the late 1840s and late 1850s, over 500 ships were damaged in Florida Reef. The United States Assistant Surveyor reported that in the period 1845 to 1849, nearly a million dollars (worth US $) of ships and merchandise were lost on coral reefs.
In 1846, the US Congress took $ 23,000 to rebuild the lighthouse and the work at Cape Florida was completed in 1847.
In 1849 the Council of Engineers of the United States conducted an initial survey on the coast of Florida. In a report written by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, the Council recommended that Key Biscayne be made a military reservation, and the US Secretary of War ordered in March 1849. Later that year, the United States Army Corps for Topographical Engineers a camp with an astronomical station/magnetic to serve as a datum base for the Florida Keys and Great Florida Reef surveys.
To learn more about Great Florida Reef, Alexander Bache invited Louis Agassiz to study it. The US Coastal Survey sent Agassiz to Key Biscayne in 1851. He wrote detailed reports for Bache about coral reefs stretching from Key Biscayne to Marquesas Keys.
The triangulation survey was conducted by the US Coastal Survey with people detailed from the US Army and US Navy. About forty people based in Cape Florida worked on the survey when Alexander Dallas Bache, the US Coastal Survey Inspector, went to Key Biscayne in 1855 to take over. The survey eventually includes Key Biscayne, Biscayne Bay, Florida Keys from south of Key Biscayne to Marquesas Keys, and Florida Bay from Keys to Cape Sable.
In 1861, Confederate militants sabotaged the lighthouse so they could not guide Union sailors during the Florida Confederation's blockade. The lighthouse was repaired and rekindled again in 1866. In 1878, Cape Florida Light was replaced by Fowey Rocks Light, seven miles (11 km) southeast of Cape Florida.
From 1888 to 1893, the Cape Florida lighthouse was hired by the US Treasury for a total of US $ 1.00 (20 cents per year) to the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club for use as its headquarters. It is listed as the southernmost cruise ship club in the United States, and the highest in the world. After the lease expires, yacht clubs move to Coconut Grove, where the ship continues.
In 1898, in response to growing tensions with Spain over Cuba, which led to the Spanish-American War, the Cape Florida lighthouse was briefly made at Number Four US Signal Station. It is one of 36 along the US East Coast and Gulf Coast from Maine to Texas. The Signal Station was established to provide early warning of any Spanish fleet approach.
The northern base marker for Key Biscayne was discovered in 1970 when workers were clearing the land. It was originally mistaken as a tombstone to someone named A. D. Bache. The survey base marker in Cape Florida ends underwater, as the island's southern tip is eroded. It can be seen at low tide until the end of 1913. In 1988 the Florida headquarters was found from underwater and installed near the Cape Florida lighthouse.
Development Edit
Key Biscayne was first developed for coconut cultivation. The earliest mention of coconut on Key Biscayne is the Spanish account of 1568, although the reference may be to cocoplums rather than coconuts. The mature coconut tree was in Cape Florida in the 1830s, possibly grown from a coconut shipped from Mexico by Henry Perrine to the first lighthouse keeper, John Dubose.
In the 1880s Ezra Asher Osborn and Elnathan T. Field of New Jersey started a company to develop the Florida coast from Key Biscayne to Jupiter by clearing the native vegetation, leveling sand dunes and sand dunes in India, and planting coconuts. Osborn and Field imported 300,000 coconut seeds from the Caribbean, 76,000 grown in Key Biscayne. Most of the coconut shoots in Key Biscayne are eaten by rats and rabbit bunnies ( Sylvilagus palustris ). As a result of their efforts, in 1885 Osborn and Field were allowed to buy Key Biscayne and other marine lands from the Florida Internal Improvement Trust Fund for 70 cents per acre.
Mary Ann Davis, who had bought Fornells grant to Key Biscayne in 1821, died in Galveston, Texas in 1885. Her son, Waters Smith Davis began taking steps to assert the family title to the island. In 1887 he bought the rights of another Davis heir and received a new deed on his behalf. However, he can not get a clear degree. Venancio Sanchez still claimed half of Fornells Grant, two of the many cities had been sold to William Harney around 1840, and Osborne and Field had deeds of the Florida Internal Enhancement Fund. Davis accepted the resignation from Osborn and Field, and in Harney many, but could not finish with Sanchez. He eventually received a patent from the United States government for his land in 1898. In 1903 Davis purchased the Cape Florida lighthouse abandoned from the US Treasury for US $ 400.
Davis started a pineapple plantation at Key Biscayne; six acres (two and a half acres) were cleared and planted in pineapple in 1893-1994. Davis also directs his management to plant half to one hectare (two ten to four per ten acres) of bananas. In 1898, various tropical fruit trees had been planted on the island. Davis also has a big house built for his use. It was a two-story cottage with five bedrooms and a veranda on three sides, lifted ten feet above the ground with a pole to protect from a storm surge.
In the late 1890s Davis hired Ralph Munroe to keep an eye on his Key Biscayne property. Munroe began visiting Biscayne Bay in 1877. He immediately built a house, Barnacle, on land inland in Coconut Grove he bought from John Frow, Cape Florida Light guard and Fowey Rocks Light. Munroe was involved in the destruction of the waters around Key Biscayne, built a sailboat, worked as a pilot for the Cape Florida Channel and opened a pineapple canning plant, which Davis sent his pineapple. Before the postal service to the Miami area gets better, Munroe will camp at Key Biscayne every Tuesday night so he can sail to the edge of the Gulf Stream early Wednesday morning to pick up a package of newspapers and magazines dropped to him in a waterproof bag by a passing steamship. Munroe is also one of the founding members of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.
In 1896 Henry Morrison Flagler brought the Florida East Coast Train to Miami. Mary Ann and William Davis dreamed of building a town in Key Biscayne. Now their son Waters is a retired millionaire, and is only interested in preserving Key Biscayne as a quiet retreat for his family. For a few moments the arrival of Flagler did interfere with their calmness, as Flagler brought dredgers to deepen the Cape Florida Channel and approach the mouth of the Miami River, littering the once clean waters of Biscayne Bay. Soon, however, the shorter route from the sea to Miami was dredged through the southern end of what is now Miami Beach, on the Government Cut, and Channel Cape Florida allowed to return to its natural state.
Coconut plantation and resort candidate Edit
In 1902 William John Matheson, who had produced his fortune in the aniline dye business, visited Biscayne Bay on his yacht. He immediately built a winter house in Coconut Grove overlooking the bay. In 1908 Matheson began buying property in Key Biscayne north of Davis ownership, all the way to Bear Cut, over 1,700 hectares (about 690 acres). Matheson created a plantation community, employing 42 workers in 1915 and 60 later. This includes housing for workers and their families, packing houses, docks, schools, a large barn, windmill, and 15 miles (24 km) from unpaved roads. The plantation has 36,000 coconut trees, and various other tropical fruits. In 1921 Matheson introduced the Malay Dwarf coconut to the United States. Today it is the most common coconut variety found in Florida, after deadly deadly killings of most of Jamaica's High coconut trees and many other varieties. Matheson's coconut plantations are at least twice as large as others in the United States. By 1933, world prices for coconut products had fallen to about two-fifths from the 1925 level, and the plantation stopped the delivery.
Waters Davis decided to sell his Key Biscayne property in 1913 (he died the following year). He pointed to Ralph Munroe to act as his broker. Despite Matheson's bid on the property, Munroe arranges the sale, for US $ 20,000, to James Deering, heir to Harvester International and owner of Vizcaya in Miami. In 1914 Deering decided to develop his new land on the island as a tropical resort. He feels that "the future of Cape Florida lies in making sales for home." To prepare, the land cleared, with marshes and mangrove forests filled. Jetties are built on the ocean side, with confidence that they will protect the beach from erosion. They have been found to aggravate erosion.
Waters Davis was set in his sale to Deering that the Cape Florida lighthouse was restored. Deering wrote to the US government looking for specifications and guides for lighthouses. Government officials were shocked by the request, wondering how a federal lighthouse could fall into private hands. An Act of Congress and two Executive Commands, in 1847 and 1897, had reserved the island for a federal lighthouse and for military purposes. The patient's legal work eventually convinced the US Congress and President Woodrow Wilson to agree to recognize Matheson's and Deering's ownership of Key Biscayne.
In 1920 heir Venancio Sanchez filed a lawsuit against James Deering, claiming half the undivided interest in Cape Florida properties. This brought the development of the resort in Cape Florida to a standstill. After many legal battles, the lawsuit was ultimately decided by Deering by the United States Supreme Court in 1926. The decision came too late for Deering; he had died the previous year.
1920s to 1950s Edit
In February 1926, William Matheson entered into an agreement with DP Davis (developer of the land, unrelated to Waters Davis) to develop and resell the northern half of Key Biscayne, including all that is now Crandon Park and about half of the Village. from Key Biscayne. Davis has experience with turning submerged or partially submerged land into primary real estate, having created the Davis Islands in Tampa and Davis Shores near St. Louis. Augustine. Then in 1926, the City of Coral Gables was merged with Key Biscayne, which falls within its boundaries. There is a dream about a bridge to the island, making Key Biscayne a seaside retreat for Coral Gables, just like Miami Beach for Miami.
Obstacles to the project arose. In March 1926, the US government auctioned off a few items at Key Biscayne that were retained when the rest of the island was moved to Florida State. The Mathesons want to have a clear title for all of their lands, and are determined to defeat other parties interested in it. They eventually paid US $ 58,055 for a total of 6.84 hectares (2.77 ha) of land, a record price per acre for a US government land auction up to that date. On September 18, 1926, the Great Miami Hurricane crossed Key Biscayne en route to Miami. Although no lives were lost on the island, most of the buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. Much of the planting is missing, including half of the coconut palms. The Mathesons rushed to restore their plantations, replant and buy new equipment to replace what was lost. They soon had 30,000 coconut trees replanted on 900 hectares (364 ha). D. P. Davis can not fulfill his contract; he declared bankruptcy and disappeared on his way to Europe by ship.
The Florida Land Boom is over. No bridges were built and no development on Key Biscayne for the next two decades. William Matheson died in 1930, leaving the island to his sons. In 1939, the US Navy approved a proposal to develop Virginia Key as an air base and seaport. There was talk of putting an air base at the north end of Key Biscayne.
In 1940 the heirs of William Matheson donated 808.8 hectares (327.3 ha) of land (including two miles (3.2 km) of beaches in the Atlantic Ocean) at the north end of Key Biscayne to Dade County for use as a public park (later named Crandon Park). The award-winning regional commissary, Charles H. Crandon, has offered to have the county build a causeway to Key Biscayne in exchange for land donations. When planning for the air and sea complex at Virginia Key resumed, the construction on the cross road to Virginia Key began in 1941.
The attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II halted all work on the Virginia Key traffic and development path. After the war, Crandon continued his development project. He got Ed Ball to buy six million US (US) from financing the construction of the highway. The cross is named for Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I ace, and Miami-based founder and president of East Air Lines. Starting in 1951, Mackle Construction Company offered a new home on the island for US $ 9,540, for only US $ 500. The US Post Office branch office was opened, the Community Church began service, and Key Biscayne Lock School opened in 1952.
Cape Cape became a state park Edit
In 1948 JosÃÆ'Â © Manuel ÃÆ' leman, who fled from Cuba after a scandal surrounding his ministry as a minister of education under RamÃÆ'³n Grau San MartÃÆ'n, bought a Cape Florida property from the Deering estate. His offer to donate the lighthouse and ten acres (four hectares) of surrounding land to the National Park Service was not accepted.
In 1950 the Dade County Planning Board announced plans to build a highway connecting Key Biscayne with Overseas Highway on Key Largo. The project envisions a bridge connecting artificial islands, which will be built in Safety Valve and small keys that exist for Elliott Key and Key Largo. ÃÆ' leman is expected to donate the right way for the road that runs in the middle of the island to the first bridge in Cape Florida. With the prospect of the main highway passing through his property, ÃÆ' leman rushed to prepare him for development: he had been fully cleaned, flattened and filled. Seawall is built along the western side (Biscayne Bay) from Cape Florida property.
ÃÆ' leman died in 1951, and County soon retreated from its road and bridge plans. His widow, Elena Santeiro Garcia, added his Cape Florida property by purchasing a sea-to-bay strip that is part of the Matheson property. These include canals unearthed by William Matheson in the 1920s, stretching from the bay of most islands. The land north of the canal was developed as part of the Key Biscayne Village now. Garcia sold the Cape Florida property in 1957 for US $ 9.5 million, but the buyer failed and died the following year. Garcia sold the property again, for US $ 13 million. Construction began in the model community of 'luxury homes and resort properties. In 1962 the new developers were in financial trouble, and the property was returned back to Garcia in 1963.
Dade County began to consider buying 50 acres (200,000 m 2 ) around Cape Cape lighthouse to a park in 1964. Bill Baggs, editor of Miami Miami, campaigned for all Cape Florida property is maintained in the park. US Interior Secretary Stewart Udall examined the property and recommended that the property be kept, although not with Federal funds. In 1966 Bagg brokered a deal between Elena Santeiro Garcia and the state of Florida, where Florida bought the property for US $ 8.5 million, of which US $ 2.3 million came from the US government. The land was named Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, and opened January 1, 1967. In 2004, a sign was installed to commemorate the site as part of the National Underground Railway Network to the Freedom Trail, to Black Seminoles who fled to the Bahamas.
Demographics Edit
Key Biscayne is a small, intimate community. The majority of families living there have known each other for generations. Children who grew up on this island are known as "Key Rat".
Leading residents Edit
- Jay Berger (born 1966), a tennis player; highest world ranking # 7
References Edit
- Notes
- References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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