Pigeon Key is a small island containing the historic district of Pigeon Key, Florida. The island is home to 8 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which remain from its earliest incarnation as a work camp for the
Florida East Coast Railway. Today these buildings serve a variety of purposes, ranging from housing for educational groups to administrative offices for the non-profit Pigeon Key Foundation. The former Assistant Bridge Tender's House has been converted into a small museum featuring artifacts and images from Pigeon Key's colorful past. It is located off the old
Seven Mile Bridge
The Seven Mile Bridge is a bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest brid ...
, at approximately mile marker 45, west of
Knight's Key, (city of
Marathon in the middle Florida Keys) and just east of
Moser Channel
Moser Channel is the deepest passage spanned by the Seven Mile Bridge and is one of four predominant passages in the Florida Keys which allow exchange of waters to the north and west of the Keys (including Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico) wit ...
, which is the deepest section of the span.
The island was originally known as "Cayo Paloma" (literally translated as "Pigeon Key") on many old Spanish charts - said to have been named for large flocks of
white-crowned pigeons (''Columba leucocephala'' Linnaeus) which once roosted there. During the building of
Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad
The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line ...
Key West Extension between 1908 and 1912, there were at times as many as 400 workers housed on the island. While these workers built many bridges along the route through the lower keys, the Seven Mile Bridge, spanning the gap between Knight's Key and Little Duck Key remains the largest and most impressive component of what was once referred to as "the 8th Wonder of the World". A number of buildings from the Flagler era remain on the island and are now part of the
Pigeon Key Historic District
__NOTOC__
The Pigeon Key Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on March 16, 1990) located on Pigeon Key in Florida. The district is off U.S. 1 at mile marker 45. It contains 11 historic buildings and 3 structures. Al ...
.
Pigeon Key was one of the locations for the "Bal Harbor Institute" in the 1995 series of ''
Flipper''. It was seen in three episodes during season one including the pilot episode. It was also the site of the Finish Line of
''The Amazing Race 18 "Unfinished Business"'' in 2011.
Pigeon Key Historic District
The Pigeon Key Historic District is a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
historic district (designated as such on March 16, 1990) located on Pigeon Key in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The district is off
U.S. 1 at mile marker 45. It contains 11 historic buildings and 3 structures. The old Seven Mile Bridge (closed to vehicular traffic) crosses over the island and has a pedestrian exit ramp going to the island.
References
External links
Pigeon Key Foundation
* ttp://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/FL/Monroe/districts.html Monroe County listingsa
National Register of Historic Places
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Islands of the Florida Keys
Islands of Monroe County, Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Florida
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
Islands of Florida