Editing Florida Keys (section)

==History==
[[File:Florida Keys (from Lower Matecumbe Key to Key Largo) by Sentinel-2.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Lower Matecumbe Key]] to [[Key Largo]], captured by the [[Sentinel-2]] satellite]]
[[File:Florida Keys (from Key West to Big Pine Key) by Sentinel-2.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Key West]] to [[Big Pine Key, Florida|Big Pine Key]], seen from Sentinel-2 satellite]]
The Keys were originally inhabited by the [[Calusa]] and [[Tequesta]] people and were later charted by [[Juan Ponce de León]] in 1513. De León named the islands ''Los Martires'' ("The Martyrs"), as they looked like suffering men from a distance.<ref>Journal of Antonio de Herrera quoted in Goodwin-Nguyen, S (2008) Key West: A Comprehensive Guide to Florida's Southernmost City, Channel Lake, p. 19.</ref> "Key" is derived from the Spanish word ''cayo'', meaning small island. For many years, Key West was the largest town in Florida, and it grew prosperous on [[Wrecking (shipwreck)#The Florida Keys|wrecking]] revenues. The isolated outpost was well located for trade with Cuba and the Bahamas and was on the main trade route from [[New Orleans]]. Improved navigation led to fewer shipwrecks, and Key West went into a decline in the late nineteenth century. <!-- A legend says that removed navigational markers from shallow areas to strand unsuspecting captains ashore.<ref>{{cite web | work=Frommer's | title="The Keys: Introduction" | url=http://www.frommers.com/destinations/thekeys/0385010001.html | access-date=2008-06-06 | year=2008}}</ref> See talk page -->

===Overseas Railway===
The Keys were long accessible only by water. This changed with the completion of [[Henry Flagler]]'s [[Overseas Railway]] in the early 1910s. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his [[Florida East Coast Railway]] down to Key West with an ambitious series of oversea railroad trestles. Three hurricanes disrupted the project in [[1906 Florida Keys hurricane|1906]], [[1909 Atlantic hurricane season#Hurricane Ten|1909]], and [[1910 Cuba hurricane|1910]].

===1935 Labor Day hurricane===
{{Main|1935 Labor Day hurricane}}
The strongest hurricane to strike the U.S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 1935. Winds were estimated to have gusted to {{convert|200|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}, raising a storm surge more than {{convert|17.5|ft|m}} above sea level that washed over the islands. More than 400 people were killed, though some estimates place the number of deaths at more than 600.

The Labor Day hurricane was one of only four hurricanes to make landfall at [[Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale|Category 5]] strength on the U.S. coast since reliable weather records began (about 1850). The other storms were [[Hurricane Camille]] (1969), [[Hurricane Andrew]] (1992), and [[Hurricane Michael]] (2018).

In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. Hundreds of World War I veterans working on the roadway as part of a government relief program were housed in non-reinforced buildings in three construction camps in the Upper Keys. When the evacuation train failed to reach the camps before the storm, more than 200 veterans perished. Their deaths caused anger and charges of mismanagement that led to a Congressional investigation.

The storm also ended the 23-year run of the Overseas Railway; the damaged tracks were never rebuilt, and the [[Overseas Highway]] ([[U.S. Route 1 in Florida|U.S. Highway 1]]) replaced the railroad as the main transportation route from Miami to Key West.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://overseasrailroad.railfan.net/about.htm|title=about|website=overseasrailroad.railfan.net}}</ref>

===Seven Mile Bridge===
{{main|Seven Mile Bridge}}
One of the [[List of bridges by length|longest bridges]] when it was built, the [[Seven Mile Bridge]] connects [[Knight's Key]] (part of the city of [[Marathon, Florida|Marathon]] in the Middle Keys) to [[Little Duck Key]] in the Lower Keys. The piling-supported concrete bridge is {{convert|35862|ft|m|abbr=on}} or 6.79 miles (10.93&nbsp;km) long. The current bridge bypasses [[Pigeon Key]], a small island that housed workers building [[Henry Flagler]]'s [[Florida East Coast Railway]] in the 1900s, that the original Seven Mile Bridge crossed. A {{convert|2.2|mi|km|adj=on}} section of the old bridge remains for access to the island, although it was closed to vehicular traffic on March 4, 2008. The aging structure has been deemed unsafe by the [[Florida Department of Transportation]]. Costly repairs, estimated to be as much as $34 million, were expected to begin in July 2008. Monroe County was unable to secure a $17 million loan through the state infrastructure bank, delaying work for at least a year. On June 14, 2008, the old bridge section leading to Pigeon Key was closed to fishing as well. While still open to pedestrians—walking, biking and jogging—if the bridge were closed altogether, only a ferry subsidized by FDOT and managed by the county would transport visitors to the island.

===Overseas Highway===
{{main|Overseas Highway}}
After the destruction of the Keys railway by the [[Labor Day Hurricane of 1935]], the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways. This roadway, U.S. Highway 1, became the [[Overseas Highway]] that runs from Key Largo south to Key West. Today this highway allows travel through the tropical islands of the Florida Keys and the viewing of exotic plants and animals found nowhere else on the US mainland and the largest [[coral reef]] chain in the United States.

===Cuban exiles===
Following the [[Cuban Revolution]], many Cubans emigrated to South Florida. Key West traditionally had strong links with its neighbor ninety miles south by water, and large numbers of Cubans settled there. The Keys still attract Cubans leaving their home country, and stories of "rafters" coming ashore are not uncommon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252171113.html|title=Cuban migrant boat found on Miami Beach from Florida Keys|website=Miami Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article250563169.html|title=Cuban migrants arrive on shore in the Florida Keys|website=Miami Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/06/03/cuban-migrants-key-biscayne/|title=Cuban Migrants Make It To Shore in Key Biscayne|website=cbslocal.com}}</ref>

===Conch Republic===
{{Main|Conch Republic}}
In 1982, the [[United States Border Patrol]] established a roadblock and inspection points on [[US Highway 1]], stopping all northbound traffic returning to the mainland at [[Florida City, Florida|Florida City]], to search vehicles for illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants. The Key West City Council repeatedly complained about the roadblocks, which were a major inconvenience for travellers, and hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.

After various unsuccessful complaints and attempts to get a legal injunction against the blockade failed in federal court in [[Miami]], on April 23, 1982, Key West mayor [[Dennis Wardlow]] and the city council declared the independence of the city of [[Key West, Florida|Key West]], calling it the "[[Conch Republic]]", and declared war on the United States by striking an officer of the Key West Naval Air Station (NAS) on the head with a loaf of stale Cuban bread. After one minute of secession, he (as "Prime Minister") surrendered to the officer and requested US$1,000,000,000 in "[[foreign aid]]".<ref>[http://www.conchrepublic.com/history.htm The Conch Republic<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102113712/http://www.conchrepublic.com/history.htm |date=2012-11-02 }}</ref>

The stunt succeeded in generating great publicity for the Keys' plight, and the inspection station roadblock was removed. The idea of the Conch Republic has provided a new source of revenue for the Keys by way of tourist keepsake sales, and the Conch Republic has participated in later protests.