Indian Key, Florida
Encyclopedia
Indian Key was an unincorporated community in Monroe County
and, for awhile, Dade County
, Florida
, United States
. It was located in the upper Florida Keys
on the island of Indian Key. It is currently a ghost town
.
wrecked on the nearby Florida Reef by a hurricane camped on Indian Key until they were rescued. Beginning in the 18th century, Bahamians
and Cubans
used Indian Key as a base for fishing
, turtling
, logging
and wrecking
. Crews might stay on the island for months at a time, but there were no permanent settlers.
to the United States, and in 1824, two Key West
men, Joshua Appleby and a man named Snyder, sent an employee, Silas Fletcher, to open a store on Indian Key. The store was to serve wreckers, settlers and Indians in the upper Keys, and a settlement of primarily Bahamian wreckers and turtlers grew up on the island. By 1829, the settlement was large enough to include a dozen women.
Jacob Housman (or Houseman), a wrecker who had a reputation of operating in a "high-handed and often illegal manner," was at odds with the established wreckers in Key West. He moved to Indian Key in 1830 and began buying property on the island, and soon became the leader of the community and its chief landlord. He made numerous improvements to the island, spending close to $40,000 on it in four years. His store, the only one on the island, grossed $30,000 a year. As a result of lobbying by Housman, Indian Key acquired an Inspector of Customs
in 1832 and a post office in 1834. In 1836 Houseman persuaded the Territorial Legislative Council to split Dade County
off from Monroe County, with the upper and middle Keys in the new county and Indian Key as the temporary county seat. Housman also campaigned to have Indian Key made a port of entry, so that salvage from wrecks could be landed there, rather than in Key West, but without success.
The Second Seminole War
began late in 1835. After the New River Massacre
in early 1836, most of the Keys were abandoned, except for Key West, Key Vaca
and Indian Key. Despite fears of attack and sightings of Indians
in the area, the inhabitants of Indian Key stayed to protect their property, and to be close to any wrecks in the upper Keys. The islanders had six cannons and their own small militia company for their defense. (The militia company initially included six slaves; by August 1836 half of the twenty-man company were blacks.) The revenue cutter
Dexter was based at Indian Key for part of 1838, and after it was withdrawn ships of the Navy
Florida Squadron called at Indian Key and established a supply depot there. In 1840 the Navy supply depot was moved to nearby Tea Table Key
.
, former United States
Consul
in Campeche
, Mexico
, who was waiting at Indian Key until it was safe to take up a 36 sq mi (93 km²) grant on the mainland that Congress had awarded to him.
The naval base on Tea Table Key had been stripped of personnel for an operation on the southwest coast of the mainland, leaving only the doctor, his patients, and five sailors under a midshipman to look after them. This small contingent mounted a couple of cannons on barges and tried to attack the Indians on Indian Key. The Indians fired back at the sailors with musket balls loaded in one of the cannons on shore. The recoil of the cannons on the barges broke them loose, sending them into the water, and the sailors had to retreat. The Indians burned the buildings on Indian Key after thoroughly looting it. Abandoned by almost all of its civilian population, Indian Key was taken over by the Navy for the duration of the Second Seminole War.
, the U.S. Army
stationed a few men on the island to protect the two remaining families from possible attack by Seminoles. The Keys lost most of their population again during the Civil War
, but William Bethel, a wrecker
, continued to live on the island from the 1850s until sometime after 1880.
Monroe County, Florida
Monroe County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 79,589. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county was 74,737....
and, for awhile, Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was located in the upper Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 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...
on the island of Indian Key. It is currently a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
.
Early history
Some of the survivors of the 19 ships of the 1733 Spanish treasure fleetSpanish treasure fleet
The Spanish treasure fleets was a convoy system adopted by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790...
wrecked on the nearby Florida Reef by a hurricane camped on Indian Key until they were rescued. Beginning in the 18th century, Bahamians
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
and Cubans
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
used Indian Key as a base for fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, turtling
Turtling (hunting)
Turtling is the hunting of turtles, a practice formerly a big part of the economy in many nations of the West Indies. In recent times, however, it has become outlawed....
, logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and wrecking
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
. Crews might stay on the island for months at a time, but there were no permanent settlers.
Settlement and growth
In 1821, Florida was transferred from SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to the United States, and in 1824, two Key West
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
men, Joshua Appleby and a man named Snyder, sent an employee, Silas Fletcher, to open a store on Indian Key. The store was to serve wreckers, settlers and Indians in the upper Keys, and a settlement of primarily Bahamian wreckers and turtlers grew up on the island. By 1829, the settlement was large enough to include a dozen women.
Jacob Housman (or Houseman), a wrecker who had a reputation of operating in a "high-handed and often illegal manner," was at odds with the established wreckers in Key West. He moved to Indian Key in 1830 and began buying property on the island, and soon became the leader of the community and its chief landlord. He made numerous improvements to the island, spending close to $40,000 on it in four years. His store, the only one on the island, grossed $30,000 a year. As a result of lobbying by Housman, Indian Key acquired an Inspector of Customs
United States Customs Service
Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.Before it was rolled into form part of the U.S...
in 1832 and a post office in 1834. In 1836 Houseman persuaded the Territorial Legislative Council to split Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
off from Monroe County, with the upper and middle Keys in the new county and Indian Key as the temporary county seat. Housman also campaigned to have Indian Key made a port of entry, so that salvage from wrecks could be landed there, rather than in Key West, but without success.
The Second Seminole War
Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...
began late in 1835. After the New River Massacre
William Cooley
William Cooley was one of the first American settlers, and a regional leader, in what is now known as Broward County, in the U.S. state of Florida. His family was killed by Seminoles in 1836, during the Second Seminole War...
in early 1836, most of the Keys were abandoned, except for Key West, Key Vaca
Key Vaca
Key Vaca is an island in the middle Florida Keys, located entirely within the borders of the city of Marathon, Florida. It is often incorrectly identified as "Marathon Key."- Geography :Key Vaca is located between Fat Deer Key and Knight's Key...
and Indian Key. Despite fears of attack and sightings of Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in the area, the inhabitants of Indian Key stayed to protect their property, and to be close to any wrecks in the upper Keys. The islanders had six cannons and their own small militia company for their defense. (The militia company initially included six slaves; by August 1836 half of the twenty-man company were blacks.) The revenue cutter
United States Revenue Cutter Service
The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury...
Dexter was based at Indian Key for part of 1838, and after it was withdrawn ships of the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Florida Squadron called at Indian Key and established a supply depot there. In 1840 the Navy supply depot was moved to nearby Tea Table Key
Tea Table Key
Teatable Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys.It is located on U.S. 1 at mile marker 75.All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated....
.
Indian raid
Early in the morning of August 7, 1840, a large party of Indians sneaked onto Indian Key. By chance, one man was up and raised the alarm after spotting the Indians. Most of the people living on the island were able to escape, but several were killed. The dead included Dr. Henry PerrineHenry Perrine
Henry Perrine was a physician, horticulturist, United States Consul in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico, and an enthusiast for introducing tropical plants into cultivation in the United States....
, former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
in Campeche
Campeche, Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche is the capital city of the Mexican state of Campeche, located at,...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, who was waiting at Indian Key until it was safe to take up a 36 sq mi (93 km²) grant on the mainland that Congress had awarded to him.
The naval base on Tea Table Key had been stripped of personnel for an operation on the southwest coast of the mainland, leaving only the doctor, his patients, and five sailors under a midshipman to look after them. This small contingent mounted a couple of cannons on barges and tried to attack the Indians on Indian Key. The Indians fired back at the sailors with musket balls loaded in one of the cannons on shore. The recoil of the cannons on the barges broke them loose, sending them into the water, and the sailors had to retreat. The Indians burned the buildings on Indian Key after thoroughly looting it. Abandoned by almost all of its civilian population, Indian Key was taken over by the Navy for the duration of the Second Seminole War.
Decline
Indian Key continued to be occupied for a while after the Second Seminole War ended in 1842. The county seat for Dade County was moved to Miami in 1844 and the upper Keys, including Indian Key, were returned to Monroe County. The 1850 Census found a few families living there, while only two families were left on the island in 1860. In 1856, during the Third Seminole WarSeminole Wars
The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...
, the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
stationed a few men on the island to protect the two remaining families from possible attack by Seminoles. The Keys lost most of their population again during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, but William Bethel, a wrecker
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
, continued to live on the island from the 1850s until sometime after 1880.
Further reading
- Dodd, Dorothy. (1948) "Jacob Housman of Indian Key."http://digitalcollections.fiu.edu/tequesta/files/1948/48_1_01.pdf Tequesta. VII. Historical Museum of Southern Florida.
- Driscoll, Kelly A. (2003) An Archaeological Study of Architectural Form and Function at Indian Key, Florida. M.A. Theses, University of South Florida. Found at http://etd.fcla.edu/SF/SFE0000135/Driscoll_thesis.pdf