Because Key Largo is the largest of the Florida Keys, and the Overseas Highway stretches 19.2 miles over the island, it has a lot of stories to tell. We will take it slow because this is the Florida Keys, and that’s the whole point, right?
With just one road, there is only so fast a car can safely go. However, every year, speed, coupled with impatience and bad decisions, wrecks vehicles and kills people (and Key deer). Take a breath, slow down and enjoy the drive, especially over the Jewfish Creek Bridge. At 65 feet, it is the highest point in the Keys.
However, it is not the only place along the island chain that is 65 feet high. If you are feeling energetic, at the Key West Shipwreck Treasure Museum near Mallory Square, there is a 65-foot-tall tower you can climb for another spectacular view.
The modern, arching Jewfish Creek Bridge is its third incarnation. The first was a swing bridge built for the Key West Extension of Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railway. It linked Key Largo to the mainland in 1907. The original railroad bridge was replaced by a bascule bridge when the third incarnation of the Overseas Highway, the one that incorporated the 18-Mile Stretch, opened in 1944.
The drawbridge was in operation until the modern Jewfish Creek Bridge opened in 2008. When driving over it and traveling down Key Largo, the southbound lane of the Overseas Highway follows the original right-of-way of Henry Flagler’s train. Be on alert, just a mile or two down the road is a world-famous roadside attraction, the Caribbean Club.
Found at MM 104, there are a lot of stories told about the club. Spoiler alert: not all of them are true. The good news is that the Caribbean Club is absolutely connected to Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s classic film “Key Largo.” Though some locals might try to argue, no scenes for the movie were filmed at the property. According to stories written by the people involved with the movie or those writing about them, with the exception of the opening scene of a bus traveling over the Overseas Highway, the rest of the movie was filmed on a soundstage back in Los Angeles.
However, the Caribbean Club played a significant role in the film’s pre-production. The movie was adapted from the 1939 Maxwell Anderson play of the same name. The director, John Huston, liked the title but not the content, so he hired screenwriter Richard Brooks to rework the screenplay to better suit his vision. Huston brought Brooks to Key Largo for inspiration. The two men spent about two weeks at the Caribbean Club.
Though the club was officially closed for the summer, Mr. Hanley, the club’s manager, brought in help to cook and keep their rooms clean. He also opened up gaming tables where Huston and Brooks spent time gambling. In the stories written about their stay, it is alleged that Huston lost about $25,000 playing craps and roulette, and Brooks gambled away around $6,000.
For Brooks, the sum roughly equaled what he was being paid to rewrite the screenplay.
On the day they left the club and drove home to the mainland, Huston and Brooks tried their luck at Hanley’s tables one last time. While they gambled, a storm was building. By the time they left, both men had managed to win back a good chunk of their losses. Also, with the weather outside getting worse, parts of the road were underwater.
The film left an impression on the local community that is still felt. Back when Brooks was rewriting the screenplay, and doing a little gambling on the side, the postal address for the Caribbean Club was Rock Harbor, Florida. In those days, Rock Harbor and Tavernier were the two towns recognized by the post office on the island. Because of the movie’s success, people were drawn to Key Largo. However, one of the problems with the trip was that, after arriving on Key Largo, it was not possible to send a postcard with a Key Largo postmark to friends and family to commemorate their visit.
The notoriety of the Caribbean Club brought money into the Rock Harbor community. So, the community banded together, as Florida Keys’ communities up and down the island chain have always done, and circulated a petition to change the official postal address from Rock Harbor to Key Largo. Successful in their efforts, the Rock Harbor Post Office ceased to exist on May 31, 1952. The Key Largo Post Office opened on June 1, 1952. From that point forward, when a postcard or letter was sent, it was postmarked with the words “Key Largo, Florida.”
More than just a cool place to tip one back or catch one of those world-famous Florida Keys sunsets, there is an original mile marker from the Henry Flagler era that has been restored and stands behind the club. There are only two left in the Keys, neither of which is in its original location. The other is on Big Pine Key.
After leaving the club and continuing down the road, you will come to a bridge where, prior to 1960, there was no need for a bridge. In an effort to cut through the island and create a quick passage between Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, the island was cut into two pieces.
The idea was conceived by Marvin Dow Adams, who worked in the insurance industry and developed the nearby Anglers Park subdivision, which borders the cut on the Atlantic side of the highway. The exposed coral rock walls of the one-half-mile-long manmade canal are 15 feet tall. The passage, which opened on Feb. 26, 1961, has an average depth of 25 feet.
There are still more Rock Harbor stories to tell before reaching Tavernier, Tavernier Creek and the next island in the chain, Plantation Key. Don’t worry. We’ll get there.
In 2025, I’ll be exploring the Overseas Highway, its history, attractions and points I find interesting.
