Early Trade in the Florida Keys

Early Trade in the Florida Keys. Heritage Monument Trail, Matacumbe Historical Trust. The early explorers reported seeing Indians in large dugout canoes, some fifty feet long piled with furs, feathers, and articles of trade between the Keys, Cuba, and the Bahamas., Bahamian wood cutters after stripping the Bahamas of its hardwood trees began traveling to the Keys to cut Mahogany, Mastic, Lignum Vitae, Manchineel, Balsam and Acacia trees to use in ship building and to export to England where it was prized. Several Bahamians grew wealthy by cutting. The Keys were stripped of these trees and by 1780 almost none remained., Between 1850 and 1900 Bahemian farmers settled in the Keys and established pineapple plantations. They also raised Key Limes, Sapodillas, melons, and tomatoes which was their second largest crop. They were shipped to northern markets by schooner until Flagler's railway opened in 1912. The train could get them to the northern markets much faster. Millions of pineapples were shipped north. The railway also ruined the pineapple business as the train cars could be ferried to Cuba, filled with pineapples, and shipped to the northern markets much cheaper than those from the Keys due to the low cost of labor. What was left of the industry was killed by a blight., The feather industry was a very profitable business in the late 1800s, killing egrets and other birds for the plumage for ladies hats. Allison Brothers, a firm of milliners in New York reported selling $200,000 of egret plumes a year. In 1910, a law was passed prohibiting plume trade. This raised the price of feathers which were smuggled to London and Paris and then returned as imports. Customs laws were passed to prevent this importation., There was a big turtle industry in the Keys. In 1890 Mr. A. Granday started canning turtle soup in Key West. He made what was then a fortune in turtle meat and soup. In 1910 Mr. Norberg Thompson purchased the factory and did a thriving business until the United States stopped turtle harvesting and importation of turtle in 1979., The coconut business was very good, until Flagler put his railway through the middle of the grove on Long Key. Later Flagler thought it so tropical, he built the Long Key Fishing Club in the coconut trees. Zane Grey was president of the club from 1917-1921. This was later blown away in the 1935 hurricane., Conchs were harvested for their beautiful shells, the meat was used in Conch Chowder and other dishes until it was outlawed by the government., In the 1920s there was a shark factory on Lower Matecumbe and one on Big Pine Key. A five or six foot shark would produce five gallons of oil from the liver, which sold for a $1.00 a gallon. The fins were sold to the Chinese for soups and hides to Ocean Leather in New York where they were made into fine leather called "Shagreen". The teeth went to souvenir shops and the meat sold as other fish., Captions , (Photo #1) Pineapple Field , (Photo #2) Great White Egret , (Photo #3) Coconut Plantation , (Photo #4) Florida Shark Industry