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Pigeon Point Museum – one of many
attractive, well preserved
or rebuilt historical buildings on Pigeon Island.
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They once called it “the
eighth wonder of the world.”
Today, it’s but a footnote of history, created by Florida
transformationalist robber-barron, Henry Flagler, “the brains of Standard Oil.”
What is, or rather, was it?
The Overseas Railroad -- an
industrial era “silk road” of the West, connecting the flow of goods between
the Caribbean and North America.
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Pigeon Key Ferry stop.
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The most ambitious privately
funded engineering venture ever, The Overseas Railroad, a 156-mile
extension, filled in some key missing links in Flagler’s Florida East Coast
Railway (FEC), terminating at deep water port, Key West Florida.
Derisively nicknamed
"Flagler's Folly," it’s believed its total estimated construction cost exceeded
$50 million ($1.3 billion in today’s dollars), all from Flagler’s personal
fortune. It was the culmination of 7 years of monumental effort, marred by the
death of over 100 railroad builders.
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Pigeon Key ferry schedule.
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Greeted by cheering crowds, Flagler
completed his long-awaited inaugural ride on January 22, 1912, at the ripe old
age of 80.
Less than 18 months later,
Flagler fell down a flight of stairs and died.
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| Pigeon Key Visitor Center... really just a gift shop in a railroad car, though the proceeds go to Pigeon Island preservation efforts. |
Twenty-three years later,
the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane washed away 40 miles of the railroad. The then-broke FEC determined it was
too costly to fix. Later, it was partially repurposed as a portion of U.S. Highway
1, a section now known as The Overseas Highway. The most significant remaining portions of The Overseas
Railroad are preserved as National Register of Historic Places, particularly,
Pigeon Island, a once railway work camp housing as many as 400 on its 5 acres.
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One of many well-crafted museum
displays depicting the engineering
challenges faced building
The Overseas Railroad.
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We didn’t expect to
encounter a guide breaking away from the group he was leading to assertively
‘invite’ us to join his tour at $12 each.
“We planned to self-tour,” we explained. “A donation is expected, still,” he countered, definitely in
no hurry to move more than 18” away until we coughed up some cold, hard cash. We did, though paying less than $24 for
the pleasure of our brief self tour.
After all, while unexpected and pressured, we did feel genuinely
compelled to contribute to Pigeon Island’s preservation. You too can support a piece of Keys
history via https://friendsofoldseven.org --
without anyone getting in your face to do so.
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| Pigeon Island marine museum offered a welcoming open space, more for research than eduction for casual passerby. |
We enjoyed a
wander, the museums and probably most of all were tickled by a local resident
kitty (we noticed his food and water bowl in the environmental museum). We’re always a sucker for cute furballs
that bonk us for attention, flop shamelessly on their backs, purring, utterly surrendering
to pleasure, ‘happy feet’ paws furling and unfurling.
Probably not
quite what Flagler envisioned.
Then again, well before The Overseas Railroad, his made his second
fortune and a fiscal turnaround for this once impoverished state as a major
hotelier. He was renowned for making Florida a tourist destination. Thus, if he was open to something for
everyone, “Meow” serves us just fine.
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Kitty, indifferent.
“What’s in it for me? Buzz off!”
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Kitty, in ecstasy.
“Purrrr. Purrrr.
This guy’s got magic fingers.”
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Kitty, in afterglow.
“Ohhhhhh…. Ohhhhhh…. Ahhhhhhh….
You stopped?”
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