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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.
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Keys Names |
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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 |
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[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." |
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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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