Pirates in
      Key Largo
      Islamorada
      Marathon.
      Key West

Famous Pirates
      Gasparilla.
      Edward Teach
      Henry Morgan
      John Rackham
      Jean Laffite
      Stede Bonnet
     William Kidd
BlackCaesar
Bowleggs.

Key Largo

While most of eastern North America has had continuous development over the past 200 years, the Florida Keys, discovered much earlier, remained undeveloped until the middle of the twentieth century.

Pirates came and went, chased by a fledgling U.S. Navy Pirate Fleet, that was established around 1822. Settlers followed while the native indian population, the Caloosa, and other mainland tribes died out.

Early settlers farmed Key Largo and the Upper Keys. Productive groves of Key Limes, tamarind and breadfruit were common, as well as fields of pineapples. The lower part of Key Largo became known as "Planters" which is now the town of Tavernier. Mosquitos, combined with almost yearly hurricane disasters kept expansion of Key Largo's small settlements of Planter, Rock Harbor, Basin Hills, and High Mangroves to a minimum.

Construction on Henry Flagler's 'railroad that went to sea', began in 1902 and was completed in 1912. It did little for Key Largo communities except to shift transportation centers from the ocean, where coastal schooners had provided the only mainland contact, to railroad stops. However, even this ceased with the destruction of the railroad by the Great Hurricane of 1935. The property was then purchased by the state for the new highway, known ever since as U.S. One or the Overseas Highway.

The Key Largo area, so close to the mainland yet so isolated from the amenities of 'civilization', has given its residents a strong sense of self reliance. Even today our water, electricity and supplies come from the mainland. Most of our businesses are locally and/or family owned and operated and include charter boats, dive shops, restaurants, lodgings and local media. A small part of the famous movie "Key Largo" was filmed here in 1948 at what is today the Caribbean Club, a local watering hole.

Pirates in the Keys: