At the end of the nineteenth century the south Florida
coast was still largely wilderness, one of the last coastal regions
east of the Mississippi to be settled. Only three small communities
Chokoloskee, Cape Sable and Flamingo existed along the coast of what
is now Everglades National Park.
Early mariners knew about Cape Sable, located west
of Flamingo as it appeared on their maps. It was here in 1838 that Dr.
Henry Perrine was given a grant of land. Unfortunately his plans for
a settlement did not materialize due to his untimely death at the hands
of Indians. Another plan for settlement was proposed by Surgeon General
Thomas Lawson who explored the Cape in 1838 for the U.S. government.
He built Fort Poinsett on Cape Sable. In 1856 during the Third Seminole
War, Fort Cross was established at Middle Cape.
The town of Flamingo was established in 1893; its citizens
had to choose a name in order to obtain a post office. According to
records from the National Archives, Howell C. Low was the first postmaster.
He was appointed on December 13, 1893. Cape Sable had its own post office
and Jay L. Watrons was appointed postmaster on February 23, 1904.
The 1910 federal census record shows 49 people living
in Flamingo and Cape Sable. Most listed their profession as farming.
There were ten heads of households, with 18 children and seven servants.
Five people were cane farmers and one worked in charcoal making. (Charcoal
was sold in 100 pound sacks at Key West.) Jobs that other individuals
held were boatmen, farmer, hauling cane, cane farming (13) and one was
retired. We also know from tradition that many, if not all, fished for
cash and food. Most also hunted. At the turn of the century plume hunting
was a major source of cash income.
Chokoloskee, near present-day Everglades City, was
first settled in the 1870s, although it had been the home of Calusa
Indians for centuries in pre-Columbian times. It became the trade center
for homesteaders scattered throughout the Ten Thousand Islands region.
Charles McKinney was Chokoloskee's first postmaster;
he was commissioned on June 30, 1892. George Storter was commissioned
as postmaster for Everglades on July 19, 1893.
The 1910 census for Everglades township, including
Chokoloskee Island, listed 144 people in 29 different households. Many
were farmers or farm laborers. Of those, most were probably engaged
in the labor-intensive growing of sugar cane. There was also one carpenter,
a mail carrier, a wash woman, a sailor, and a school teacher.
Two men made their livings as merchants, Charles "Ted"
Smallwood and George Storter. The largest family, their name illegible
in the records, had twelve members.
The Everglade and Chokoloskee community was just recovering
from a hurricane in 1909 when it was devastated by another, the worst
on record, the following year. Only the highest ground of the old Calusa
shell mound remained above water. Low-lying farm fields were salted
by flood tides and most cisterns were polluted, a major tragedy in an
area where few springs or wells existed. Many inhabitants of the outlying
islands were forced to abandon their homesteads. The most infamous incident
of the times, the vigilante murder of a local man suspected of several
murders, occurred a few days after the hurricane. A fictionalized account
of the event is told in the book Killing Mister Watson by Peter Matthiesson.
In the early days the only way to arrive at Flamingo
or Chokoloskee was by boat. Supplies were shipped from Key West, Fort
Meyers or Tampa and cane syrup, fish, and produce were traded in return.
Although neither town was ever to become a metropolis, they did have
commerce, with some vegetables from Chokoloskee even reaching New York
City.
When Royal Palm state park was created in 1916, a road
was built from Florida City to Royal Palm hammock. The Ingraham Highway,
as it was eventually named, was later completed to Flamingo. The name
highway gave more prominence to this road than it actually deserved.
Often it could only be traveled in good weather and it was always full
of ruts and mud holes. Early visitors could however enjoy the scenic
Everglades as they traveled this road.
Prosperity of a sort reached Everglades City in the
1920s when Barron Collier made it his headquarters for the building
of the Tamiami Trail across south Florida. It served as the county seat
of Collier County until 1960, when prosperity waned and county offices
were moved to Naples. Neighboring Chokoloskee did not have a road until
a causeway was built from the mainland in 1956.
Flamingo, still marking the end of the main park road,
is now a park community with a campground, ranger station, marina and
lodge. Chokoloskee, surrounded by park waters at the end of Highway
29, is still home to fishermen, with a few motels and a resort having
been added for park visitors. Although the tiny cane farms and fishing
shanties are gone, both areas maintain the tranquil beauty for which
they are famous.
