HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Geiger Key is an
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
in the lower Florida Keys about east of Key West. It is located to the south of, and bridged to, Big Coppitt Key via Boca Chica Road ( County Road 941) at about mile marker 11 on U.S. 1 (or the
Overseas Highway The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys to Key West. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Rail ...
). It has the small trailer park community of Tamarac, Geiger Key Pub & Grill and Geiger Key Marina. It is part of the
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
of
Big Coppitt Key, Florida Big Coppitt Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States, in the lower Florida Keys. The name is said to be a derivation of the old English word "coppice", meaning thicket. According to A.D. Bache, in the notes for his coast survey ...
. It was named after Henry Huling Geiger, an early Keys
settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...
, who had obtained land on the Key in 1843 under the " Armed Occupation Act of 1842". (Permit Number 127, dated July 19, 1843). He also owned property in the city of Key West (Key West land records, 1847-1864). Henry Geiger was the son of John Geiger of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and Catherine Huling of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, who had
emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to St. Augustine in Spanish Florida in 1805. (St. Augustine Cathedral records). From John Viele's '' The Florida Keys: A History of the Pioneers'': " A. D. Bache, in the notes for his Coast Survey conducted in 1861 says of the Key: 'Geiger's Key is 2 miles .2 kmlong and 1 mile .6 kmwide. It was in good cultivation in 1855 he time of his visit, and was then inhabited by an industrious
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, from whom it derived its name'"... referring to Henry Huling Geiger. Henry expanded his holdings in the area (Boca Chica) through purchase of an adjacent plantation owned by Adolf Santini in 1867. The same reference, and Federal Census Records, also indicate that Henry was a planter/
farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...
, woodcutter, and tanner, and that he was assisted by a free black gentleman, Robert Allen, at least two other single men, and at least one slave. Henry had one child, a son, John Robert Geiger, born out of wedlock, for whom he sought (and was granted) legitimacy through an act of the Florida State Assembly in 1850. (Source data: "Acts and Resolutions of the 5th Session of the General Assembly of the State of Florida", Tallahassee, November 25, 1850 to January 24, 1851. Chapter 469 - o. 158Pg. 179-180). No record of a wife or other children has been found. After his death in September 1872, his son and heir, John Robert Geiger, sold his father's land holdings to his uncle, Captain John Geiger of Key West in April 1873. No physical architectural remains of the original Geiger Key plantation have survived. Henry Geiger's younger brother, Captain John Henry Geiger, had previously settled, and was a well-known citizen of Key West, having settled there before Henry's arrival in the Keys. Captain Geiger was a successful Key West wrecker with whom John James Audubon lived during his 1832 stay in the Keys. Audubon painted and named a local species of flowering tree which was growing in Captain Geiger's gardens the "
Geiger Tree ''Cordia sebestena'' is a shrubby tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, native to the American tropics. It ranges from southern Florida in the United States and the Bahamas, southwards throughout Central America and the Greater Antilles. Com ...
" (''Cordia sebestena''). Captain Geiger's home and gardens in Key West have been preserved and restored as a museum, store and event venue as (erroneously) " Audubon House and Tropical Gardens". Today, Geiger Key is best known for its clothing optional beach which has maintained an extremely low profile amongst American tourists traveling to the Keys from both within FL as well as nation wide. The lack of human traffic and semi-secluded inlets veiled by palms and mangroves are ideal for a peaceful day away from the bustle of Key West only a few kilometers away.


References

{{authority control Islands of Monroe County, Florida Islands of the Florida Keys Islands of Florida