Rattlesnakes are pit vipers. Pit vipers have two little heat-sensing pits on their heads between their eyes and nostrils. When a rattlesnake strikes with its fangs at some warm-blooded prey, the pits help guide its aim.
This information is relevant because, once upon a time, the island ahead was identified as Viper Kay.
The Spanish word for viper is vibura. Early Spanish names for the island included slight variations of vibura, Cayo Vivora, and Vivoras. In 1775, a chart created by Gauld identified the island by two names, Cayo Bivoras and Viper Kay. In 1846, the Blunt chart used the same two names. In 1849, Gerdes wrote in his “Reconnaissance of the Florida Reef and all the Keys,” “The name of Viper Key, or Cayo Bivoras is not known to anybody, but the island is called Long Island.”
On an 1872 government survey, Charles Smith called it Long Key, and Long Key it is today. The view of the island from the high arch of the Channel 5 Bridge offers a picturesque approach. When driving down the bridge, a sailboat or two can often be seen at anchor just offshore from the island. From the bridge, on the oceanside of the highway, it looks like an island’s bushy green arm is sticking out. The “elbow” is Long Key Point.
After the bridge, the highway rolls past Fiesta Key, and a short span of railroad fill before it reaches Long Key. While driving over the long, thin line of asphalt, the island does give off a serpentine feel. Slithering along, the first thing Long Key reveals is Layton. It is a small community with a blinking yellow light reminding you to slow down.
It was named after Del Layton, who ran a grocery store in Miami with his wife Mary before they purchased 40 acres of Long Key. He developed the Long Key Construction Company in 1946, after which a fishing camp was established, followed by cabins and a restaurant. What started as Layton’s Long Key Fishing Camp grew into a town that was incorporated on Sept. 18, 1963. Layton is small. No sooner is the blinking yellow light in the rearview mirror than Layton has passed, and you’re cruising down the island. It won’t be long before a brown sign on the side of the road reads: Long Key State Park 1,000 Feet.
If there is one thing that the state of Florida does really well, it is its state park program, and Long Key State Park presents another opportunity to experience a more natural island state. The thousand-acre park was dedicated on Oct. 1, 1969. It offers camping, kayaking, bird watching and the chance to see what the real Florida Keys are like. There are nature trails, too.
If you are a fan of the Netflix series “Bloodline,” stroll down the Golden Orb Trail. Long Key State Park was home to where the fratricide occurred – the sheriff drowned his brother. The spot where the scene was filmed is a little off the beaten path and between the Golden Orb Trail and Long Key Point. For years, the log out in the water seen in the shot was still there — it isn’t there any more, but the view is still gorgeous.
What brought Long Key national attention is fishing, or at least fishermen and a fish camp. According to the Key West Citizen, an Oct. 23, 1908 story reveals, “Six buildings are being erected at Long Key for the use of tourists, and incidentally to allow the traveling public to stop over here and enjoy some of the best fishing in the world.”
The Key West Citizen reported in 1909, “We have tips from good authority that Long Key Fishing Camp is going to be crowded this winter. It is one of the most attractive places along the line; contains a two-story hotel and about 30 neat little cottages.”
The camp attracted the attention of Zane Grey, who is best remembered for his Western novels. The writer was also a world-record-holding fisherman who became a fan of the Florida Keys.
Pearl Zane Grey grew up wanting to be a baseball player and played semi-professionally.
His father wanted him to be a dentist, and he became one. He was also a writer, and in 1902, he self-published “Betty Zane” with the help of his wife, who paid $600 for that first novel to be published.
In 1907, Grey visited a friend in Arizona, helping him trap mountain lions, and fell in love with the majesty of the West. Western novels became his sweet spot, and he published more than 90 books and 196 short stories. He was also one of the first American authors to become a millionaire. Grey went into the movie business and, in 1919, opened Zane Grey Productions.
Forty-six movies based on his work helped launch the careers of Hollywood legends like John Wayne, Tom Mix, Randolph Scott and Shirley Temple.
Grey first came to the Keys in 1911, when a tarpon fishing trip with his brother, originally planned for Mexico, fell through after an epidemic swept through their destination. After returning to Miami, with time on their hands and fishing on their minds, they decided to ride Flagler’s train south to Long Key. It left an impression. Between 1911 and 1926, Grey only missed his annual fishing trip to Long Key twice.
At the end of the island, right before rolling over the Long Key Bridge, you’ll speed past a historic marker commemorating the Long Key Fishing Camp that was destroyed in the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. Where many of the old buildings once stood is a condominium complex.
The last thing to remember about Long Key is that after driving past the old fishing camp, off the island, and over the Long Key Bridge, there is a second bridge. The old railroad bridge, the Long Key Viaduct, is on the oceanside. There are probably people standing on it fishing. Of all the railroad bridges in the Keys, the Long Key Viaduct was Henry Flagler’s favorite.
