Elliott Key is the northernmost of the true Florida Keys (those 'keys' which are ancient

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s lifted above the present

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

), and the largest key north of

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

. It is located entirely within

Biscayne National Park Biscayne National Park is an American national park located south of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is th ...

, in

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, east of

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami s ...

. It is bordered by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the east,

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...

to the west,

Sands Key Sands Key is an island north of the upper Florida Keys in Biscayne National Park. It is in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located in lower Biscayne Bay, between Elliott Key and Boca Chita Key. History Earlier names for the island were "Las ...

(across Sands Cut) to the north and

Old Rhodes Key Old Rhodes Key is an island north of the upper Florida Keys in Biscayne National Park. It is in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located just north of Broad Creek in the lower part of Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characte ...

(across Caesar Creek) to the south.

Adams Key Adams Key is an island north of the upper Florida Keys in Biscayne National Park. It is in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located west of the southern tip of Elliott Key, on the north side of Caesar Creek in the lower part of Biscayne Bay. Th ...

is just west of the southern end of Elliott Key. Elliott Key is about long. Its maximum width is about near the north end and its average width is less than . The higher elevations on the island range from above sea level and occur generally along an unimproved road that runs longitudinally through the center of the island. The average elevation is about above sea level. The key is accessible only by boat. Elliott Key has a

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

campground, but is otherwise uninhabited.

History

Elliott Key was used on a transient basis for millennia by

Tequesta The Tequesta (also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos) were a Native American tribe. At the time of first European contact they occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans a ...

Indians, and later by fishermen and the lower Florida Keys. The earlier name for the key was Ledbury Key, named after a

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

that was driven ashore in 1769. There are legends of Elliott Key and adjacent keys being used as a refuge by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s and escaped

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. The chief pirate of legend is Black Caesar, who is said to have escaped from a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

, and used Elliott Key as his base. The key was inhabited and the site of

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

plantations in the latter part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In 1910 there were more than a dozen families raising pineapples on Elliott Key where an average crop was 50,000 to 75,000 dozen fruits, mostly sent by

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In the 1950s it was proposed to build a causeway (across the

Safety Valve A safety valve is a valve that acts as a fail-safe. An example of safety valve is a pressure relief valve (PRV), which automatically releases a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system, when the pressure or temperature exceeds ...

) and highway from

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne ( es, Cayo Vizcaíno, link=no) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies sou ...

to Key Largo, connecting Elliott Key and other keys to the mainland and the rest of the Florida Keys. This led to the incorporation of the city of

Islandia, Florida Islandia is an unincorporated community and former city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on the islands of Elliott Key and other nearby keys, such as Totten Key. It was the only municipality in ...

, encompassing the keys north of Key Largo up to the

Ragged Keys Ragged Keys are small islands north of the upper Florida Keys. They are located in Biscayne Bay, just north of Sands Key, and are part of Biscayne National Park Biscayne National Park is an American national park located south of Miami, ...

. In anticipation of the highway, and to forestall designation of the northernmost keys as a park, developers cleared most of the land on Elliott Key and dredged channels around it. With the establishment of the Biscayne National Monument in 1968 and purchase of private property in the park by the Federal government, development of the highway and of Elliott Key was halted, and the money that was allocated for the proposed causeway was used to build a replacement

Card Sound Bridge Card Sound Bridge is a high-rise toll causeway connecting southern Miami-Dade County and northern Monroe County. It is one of only two ways that motorists can leave or enter the Florida Keys (the other is U.S. Route 1). The toll for two-axle ...

connecting northern

to the mainland. The City of Islandia was abolished in 2012. On August 24, 1992,

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...

made landfall on Elliott Key.Christopher Landsea; James Franklin; Colin McAdie; John Beven II; James Gross; Brain Jarvinen; Richard Pasch; Edward Rappaport; Jason Dunion; Peter Dodge (2004-11). "A Re-Analysis of Hurricane Andrew's Intensity". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (American Meteorological Society) 85 (11): 1707–1708. doi:10.1175/BAMS-85-11-1699. Retrieved 2012-06-22.

References

External links

Nautical Chart of Elliott Key
{{authority control Islands of the Florida Keys Uninhabited islands of Miami-Dade County, Florida Biscayne National Park Islands of Florida