After Florida became part of the United States in 1821, two settlements were established in the Keys that serviced the fishing, turtling and wrecking trades. They were Key West and Indian Key. By 1830, when Jacob Housman began buying up land and businesses on Indian Key, he found himself the owner of a store, a poolroom, a 9-pin bowling alley and a hotel.

By 1840, there were more than fifty permanent residents on the 8.7 acre island. There were always ships at the docks and sailors in town. The key boasted an Inspector of Customs and a post office. Indian Key was even the county seat for the newly-formed Dade County. (Dade was carved from the middle of Monroe County: county seat, Key West.) There was a doctor and a Naval Hospital on the island as well, with the Navy based one island over at Teatable Key.

Surprisingly, an Indian Key resident, James Glass, was awake and saw the Indians. He was able to alert a neighbor and they hid together in a cistern under Housman's warehouse. Others jumped from windows and hid in gardens. Dr. Perrine instructed his wife and children to hasten into the turtle crawl below their house (in the water) and climbed to the cupola. When the Indians broke into the house, the doctor was killed. The family, however, in their hideout in the water, eluded capture while the house was ransacked and then burned above them.

The wonderful boy's adventure book from 1869, The Young Wrecker on the Florida Reef, by Richard Meade Bache, contains the following account:

"Hardly had the sun risen, when, by the light which penetrated our retreat, I perceived wreathing lines of smoke coming from the floor above. The house was on fire. Soon the smoke descended in volumes so stifling, that we were obliged to keep our faces close to the water, to avoid being suffocated. The roar of the flames grew louder and louder. All hope vanished. The alternatives seemed to be death by suffocation, or by the hands of the Indians. The house soon fell into the cellar, and even now, when I recall the ensuing scene, it seems impossible that human nature could withstand what we endured. We could not see each other. The planking, which covered the long, narrow space in which we were ensconced, took fire, and we were constantly obliged to dash water upon it. At the same time, we were obliged to cover our heads with marl, and throw water over them, to diminish the intense heat, and disperse the smoke, so that we could breathe. James could endure no more. He began to scream. His mother forcibly held him, and gagged him with her hand; while one of his sisters held his arms. But, frantic with terror, he broke from them, and displacing one of the palmetto posts, which separated our place of concealment from the turtle crawl, made his escape."

Luckily, all who had sought refuge in the turtle crawl lived, but thirteen Indian Key residents were killed.

Today, you may visit Indian Key by boat­ it's on the Atlantic side of Milemarker 78.5. Operated as a state park site, you may walk the old streets and see ruins of the cisterns and the watchtower. Archaeological digs have taken place on the island, and plans are afoot to build a museum.

The drawing at the top of this web page is from Harper's magazine, 1871, and was made to represent Indian Key in 1840. Much more can be learned of the Indian Key story by visiting www.keyshistory.org

The Young Wrecker on the Florida Reef may be purchased at the Key West Lighthouse giftshop.