Big Pine Key History Page 1

BIG PINE KEY History
By Jerry Wilkinson
Edited by Captain Conch

Page 1

If you are not familiar with the general area, click HERE for a basic area map.

Big Pine Key, or Big Pine for short, is slightly different from the Middle and Upper Keys. First it is oolitic limestone and not Key Largo Limestone. Fresh water can be found in oolitic formations but rarely in Key Largo Limestone. Its namesake the pine tree is rare in the Middle or Upper Keys. It is generally thought to be fairly large having about 5,855 acres, but small compared to Key Largo with 22,000 acres. Historically, some permanent settling caught on in the Middle and Upper Keys in the middle 1800s, but little in Big Pine. Therefore, after World War II, when settling in all the Florida Keys became an interest to outsiders, Big Pine had plenty of space, but no public electricity or water. Bradley Real Estate was the only real estate broker between the Middle Keys and Key West. It is also home of the Key deer. So with this in mind we move back in time.

For this history I have used the 1870 census for my general reference. In 1870, the census enumerator only listed one family on Big Pine. There were however more on Big Pine’s neighbor - No Name Key. It lists 44 inhabitants which was a large settlement for a Key of its size. Here is an excerpt from the 1870 census:

Name	Key	Age	Sex	Occupation	Property Value	Birthplace
Wilson, George	Big Pine	30	M	Charcoal Burner	--	New York
Thrift, William	No Name	24	M	Farmer	$200	Bahamas
Thrift, Joseph	No Name	60	M	Farmer	$250	Bahamas
Thrift, Hannah	No Name	60	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Carey, William	No Name	27	M	Farmer	$200	Bahamas
Carey, Hannah	No Name	21	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Carey, Mary	No Name	2	F			Florida
Knowles, Thomas	No Name	44	M	Farmer	$300	Bahamas
Sands, John	No Name	39	M	Seaman	$200	Bahamas
Sands, Amelia	No Name	30	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Sands, Amelia	No Name	1	F			Florida
Lowe, Joseph	No Name	60	M	Farmer	$250	Bahamas
Knowles, William	No Name	23	M	Farmer	$300	Bahamas
Knowles, Susannah	No Name	20	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Matcovitch, Nichols	No Name	45	M	Farmer	$1,000	Louisiana
Matcovitch, Eliza	No Name	35	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Matcovitch, George	No Name	1	M			Florida
Knowles, Alexander	No Name	29	M	Seaman	$200	Bahamas
Knowles, Mary	No Name	18	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Cates, William	No Name	25	M	Seaman	$200	Bahamas
Cates, Margaret	No Name	26	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Thompson, Joseph	No Name	79	M	Farmer	$300	Bahamas
Thompson, John	No Name	34	M	Farmer		Bahamas
Knowles, David	No Name	14	M			Bahamas
Sands, John	No Name	27	M	Farmer	$250	Bahamas
Sands, Susan	No Name	50	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Sands, John	No Name	21	M	Seaman		Bahamas
Sands, Susan	No Name	9	F			Bahamas
Carey, Benjamin	No Name	28	M	Farmer	$275	Bahamas
Carey, Susan	No Name	25	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Carey, Margaret	No Name	5	F			Bahamas
Carey, Emma	No Name	1	F			Florida
Cates, John	No Name	34	M	Seaman	$200	Bahamas
Cates, Isabella	No Name	27	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Cates, Catherine	No Name	6	F			Florida
Cates, Mary	No Name	1	F			Florida
Carey, John	No Name	50	M	Seaman	$225	Bahamas
Carey, Sarah Ann	No Name	40	F			Bahamas
Carey, Harriet	No Name	13	F			Florida
Carey, Sarah	No Name	4	F			Florida
Knowles, James	No Name	35	M	Farmer		Bahamas
Knowles, Frances	No Name	35	F	Keeping House		Bahamas
Knowles, Mary	No Name	12	F			Bahamas
Knowles, James	No Name	7	M			Florida
Knowles, Louisa	No Name	3	F			Florida
Knowles, Margaret	No Name	2/12	F	Born in April		Florida

Of those listed above William Cates homesteaded 115.4 acres in 1883. Other homesteaders with the same surname were Sands (William Henry, 1905) and Knowles (Henry {1901} and John T. {1911}) State records show there were 19 homesteaders. The first patented land deed was issued to William F. Wood on January 25, 1882. As with much of the Keys, the late official land surveying made homesteading and patenting of land title impossible. Charles F. Smith surveyed Big Pine Key for the state of Florida on March 21, 1873.

William Sands was a Bahamian shipbuilder and captain. He had his own sawmill and used local pine for parts of his boats.

How the Keys got their names: http://keys.fiu.edu/gazetteer/index.html

Keys Names

The name Marathon came about by the railroad workers who were working night and day to complete the railway. Due to the unrelenting pace and struggle to complete the project, the popular exclamation, "This is getting to be a real Marathon", is how the name originated

[Marathon, Florida Keys] According to an article in the Key West Morning Star newspaper of Jan. 20, 2000 by Charlie Ramos, it was Joseph R. Parrott, Flagler's next in command and Chief Engineering Advisor, who gave a pep talk to 2500 workers at Knight's Key in 1908. Knowing that the 7 mile bridge task was still ahead, as well as the deep waters of Bahia Honda, he announced that, because of Flagler's advanced age and deep desire to see the project completed before he died, that more teams and more money would be spent to complete these last links to Key West. He said, "Gentlemen, we are from this day forward engaged in a ‘Marathon’, a marathon to make sure that Mr. Flagler's wish becomes an accomplished fact." So in 1908 the area east of Knight's Key on Key Vaca became known as Marathon, and in the spirit of speeding the construction supplies were branded, "To Marathon."

Cudjoe Key is a census-designated place and town in Monroe County, Florida, on an island of the same name in the lower Florida Keys. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,695. It was originally called Littleton Island.

It has a U.S. Army missile tracking station built during the Cuban missile crisis In 1960. The station flies a white radar aerostat, known locally as "Fat Albert," that runs a drug interdiction mission for the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Possibly named for the Joewood tree (Jacquinia keyensis Mez), a native species which is also known as cudjoewood. A more likely derivation for the name is offered by writer John Viele of Summerland Key. He believes that Cudjoe, which is a very common West African name, was the name of a runaway or freed black who lived on the island at some point prior to Gerdes' survey in 1849.

History of Big Pine Key
Page 1

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