A nice serendipity of our visit to Key West this year is that it coincided with the centennial celebration of the arrival in Key West of Flagler’s Overseas Railroad. The Key West Extension of the railroad from Miami was fraught with a multitude of challenges including a couple of significant hurricanes, but it still was finished a year ahead of expectations. Prior to the railroad, travel to Key West was by boat only, and the arrival of the train was welcomed enthusiastically.
Key West History Museum (formerly the Custom House)
The centennial celebration, recalling this enthusiasm, began with a parade followed by a ceremony on the steps of the Key West History Museum (the former Customs House) at which “Henry Flagler” (an impersonator) addressed the crowd. After a ribbon cutting, the museum opened for their new exhibit “Flagler’s Speedway to Sunshine,” an excellent exhibit featuring a re-created Florida East Coast railcar, a replica of a section of the Seven Mile Bridge, vintage footage of the journey from the Middle Keys to Key West and a film recounting Flagler’s story and the arrival of the first train. We especially enjoyed the film showing the train arriving in 1912.
“Henry Flagler” cuts ribbon to open the museum’s centennial exhibit.
After the 1935 hurricane the railroad was closed because there was so much damage to the tracks, but the railroad bed and bridges were converted to a highway. All of the old railroad bridges were replaced by 1980, but sections of many of these old bridges are maintained as fishing bridges. Also, the bridge to Pigeon Key where we bicycled in Marathon (see Jan. 10 post – En Route to Key West) is a section of the old original Seven Mile Bridge converted from the railroad bridge. Part of it is also seen in the photo below, taken through our windshield as we drove north approaching Marathon.
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