On day two I rented a kayak at a funky patchwork of businesses referred to collectively as Robbie's Marina, and paddled out to Indian Key, about three-quarters of a mile off Islamorada. It's a State Historic Site, and although ranger-guided tours are no longer given there, it's open to the public.
As keys go, this one's pretty small, about 10 acres. It was settled in the early 1830's. The little community thrived, and was soon designated the seat of Dade County, which at that time included much of southern Florida. Around a town square roughly the size of a football field the 40 to 50 permanent residents constructed streets, a hotel, a hospital, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a warehouse and several dwellings. In 1840 the town was attacked by a band of about 100 Seminoles, who killed a few islanders, including the respected physician and botanist Dr. Henry Perrine, and burned every structure to the ground. All that remains now are the streets, some stone building foundations, a few cisterns, and the original grave of Jacob Housman, who founded the community in 1831, and died ten years later, crushed between two boat hulls during a storm.
Humans quit the key for good about a century ago, leaving it to the tender mercies of the mangroves, poisonwood trees, and hermit crabs.
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