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INDIAN KEY STATE HISTORICAL SITE
Photo Courtesy Tom Henschel, author of "The Florida Keys Ports
of Call & Anchorages". This illustrated guide is available for sale at
www.cruisingbook.com
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An observation tower, boat dock, shelter and
trails are provided; however, there are no restrooms or picnic facilities.
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Most facilities are not handicapped
accessible.
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Guided tours will probably resume when the
docks have been repaired (as of 03/00)
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Call 305-664-4815 for more info.
(Info courtesy of Florida Dept of Environmental Protection,
Division of Recreation and Parks)
Indian Key is located about3/4 of a mile in
a southeasterly direction from the north shore of Lower Matecumbe Key. Only
slightly more than 10 acres in size and separated from the Overseas Highway by
open water, it hardly looks like a place of historic significance. Yet Indian
Key has had a colorful past which is very much a part of early Florida History.
It dates from the time of prehistoric Indians to the 1830's, when this small key
was the seat of newly created Dade County. The foundations of buildings and
cisterns on the island date back to this prosperous time.
Through archaeological excavations, it is known that Indians
lived in the Keys for several thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish
explorers. When Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513,he found a quick way
for Spanish vessels to return home with their cargo of treasure taken from the
Maya, Inca and Aztec empires: the Straits of Florida and the Gulf Stream.
It was a dangerous route for the cumbersome Spanish sailing vessels because of
the coral reefs lining the south Florida coast and the constant threat of
Hurricanes. At the time, hostile Calusa Indians lived in the Keys. They became
the first to profit from vessels wrecked on the offshore reefs.
By the time of the brief English occupation of Florida
starting in 1763, however, the Calusas had disappeared from the Keys. Bahamian
fisherman and turtlers took their place, making salvage a way of life.
"Wrecking" proved to be a profitable business; so lucrative, in fact,
that it attracted pirates who soon became a threat to merchant vessels.
American occupation of Florida in 1821 stopped the pirate's
activities. In addition, American wreckers drove the Bahamians out of business
in the Keys and monopolized it themselves. Key West was the main wrecking
station in south Florida and became a wealthy community from the profits of
salvage.
The monopoly of Key West was challenged by a man named Jacob
Houseman. Having arrived from Staten Island in one of his father's ships which
he "borrowed", he found wrecking to his taste. After disagreements
with the Key West establishment, which accused him of various shady business
maneuvers, he thought it best to own his own wrecking station.
The strategic location of Indian Key, nearby fresh water on
Matecumbe and proximity to the most dangerous reefs, made it ideal for
Houseman's plans. He bought the island in 1831 and began to build his own small
empire. This included a thriving store, hotel and dwellings with cisterns, as
well as warehouses and wharves. Housman turned Indian Key into a busy port with
40-50 permanent inhabitants. He even brought soil to the rocky island and
landscaped it with tropical plants. Housman's profits from his business venturs
and wrecking were substantial. Eventually, there were more disputes with the Key
Westers, who again accused him of illegal conduct as a wrecker.
In an effort to make his island independent of Key West, he
had the Legislative Council establish Dade County in 1836, with Indian Key as
the county seat. In spite of his success Housman's fortunes began to decline. He
lost numerous court battles and eventually his wrecker's license. At the
outbreak of the Second Seminole War in 1835, he also lost his Indian trade. In
the end, he had to mortgage the island.
In 1838, Dr. Henry Perrine, a physician with a consuming
interest in tropical botany, moved to Indian Key to await the end of the war. He
wanted to use a government grant to cultivate useful tropical plants on the
mainland. Perrine's special interest lay in cultivating agave for the
manufacture of hemp, but he also included many others, such as tea, coffee,
bananas and mangos, in his plans. While waiting for the war's end, he started a
nursery on Matecumbe.
As the war continued, Houseman's island became an endangered
outpost because of the well-stocked store and warehouses. He asked for
government protection. Eventually, military forces were stationed at nearby Tea
Table Key. They proved of little value, however, in the events that followed.
In the early morning of August 7, 1840, a band of more than
100 Indians attacked the island. Most of the inhabitants, including Housman and
his wife, managed to escape. However, some were killed in the attack and
subsequent looting and burning of the buildings. Dr. Perrine hid his family in a
turtle kraal below the house, where they survived the attack. He was not so
fortunate. After a futile attempt to talk to the Indians, he was killed and the
house set on fire.
Except for one building and the stone foundations, all the
structures on Indian Key were destroyed during the attack. As the survivors
learned too late, the garrisons at Tea Table Key had been reduced to five able
men a few days before.
Although some of the inhabitants returned to the island after
the incident, Housman did not. Instead, he sold Indian Key and returned to Key
West, where he served as a crew member on a wrecking vessel. In 1841, during
salvage operations in rough seas, he was accidentally crushed between two ships.
Indian Key has remained uninhabited since the early part of
last century. Gradually, Dr. Perrine's plants have grown over the ruins.
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