LONG KEY: PARK OFFICIALS SHOW OFF FLAGLER RAILWAY ARTIFACTS UNCOVERED BY IRMA

Long Key State Park will host the “Roar of the Train to Hum of the Cars” program on Saturday, Feb 5, 2022. The highlight of this ranger-guided tour is a viewing of a portion of Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railway, a site in the park that was unearthed by Hurricane Irma.

Donald Bentley is a park ranger at Long Key State Park, which is a part of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Parks & Recreation. He still remembers the thrill he felt when he and other staff members started to uncover parts of the railroad and tools, a few weeks after Irma swept through the area. The storm did particular damage in the Middle and Lower Keys. Long Key State Park saw a 7-foot storm surge, which swept away boulders, picnic tables and some bathhouses lining the water, as well as threw beach sand and vegetation all over the area.

“We got the housing set up and the park operational using dozers and loaders,” remembered Bentley. “We were wiped out.”

From time to time, during the cleanup after Irma, Bentley and other rangers would take walks through the park, keeping in mind that the area was of some historical significance. The staff knew that a portion of a side track from Flagler’s Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway was somewhere within the park, but, other than a slight hump in the land, they never saw physical evidence of a railroad track.

Some time in November 2017 (Irma hit the Keys on Sept. 10), Bentley was taking a walk through the vegetation when he saw a spike. Then a wooden railroad tie. Then a bush axe. He immediately shouted to his coworkers: “I was like, ‘Oh my god, look at these! Cool! Come here, come here!’ We were like giddy school kids.”

In total, the group found seven wooden railroad ties, segments of railroad track, a few tools and wheels that were used for a handcar to move up and down the tracks. For the history buffs, the find was the equivalent of a goldmine.

Many locals are familiar with the story of wealthy businessman Henry Flagler and his determination to link Key West to the mainland by railroad — a project sometimes called “Flagler’s Folly” at the time — in the early part of the last century. The railroad went into operation in 1912 but was destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, which also took hundreds of lives.

According to Bentley, building the railroad cost $32 million, which today is worth a couple billion dollars. And the laborers who constructed the railroad battled extreme conditions during their workday, wearing long pants and shirts in the oppressive heat to avoid mosquito bites, and camping out in tents. 

Bentley and coworker Mark Lee — who is no longer with the park — had an idea to build a wooden bridge through the vegetation and “an interpretation area” so visitors can see the sidetrack that was revealed by the storm surge. Using money from the state to rebuild the park after Irma, Bentley and many staff members got together to make the wooden structure.

“It was a team effort,” Bentley said.

And now, Long Key State Park staff want to show off the tracks in a program for the public. Bentley will lead the tour, and he would like the attendees to feel like they are stepping back in time. He will tell the story of Flagler, then describe what the laborers’ camp conditions were like.

As a sign in front of the interpretation area says, “Imagine the sounds of the train chugging down the tracks. Maybe you will also hear the sounds of men hammering spikes and swinging pickaxes to break the hard coral rock the railroad was built upon.” 

“Roar of the Train to Hum of the Cars” program will take place on Saturday, Feb. 5, from 1 to  1:30 p.m. at Long Key State Park. This event is weather permitting and subject to cancellation. Program is free with regular park admission fee. (Vehicles with two-plus people: $5.00 + $0.50 per person. $4.50 for vehicle with single occupant. $2.50 for pedestrians, bicyclists and passengers in vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass.) More information is available from the park at 305-664-4815 or at FloridaStateParks.org. The park is located at 67400 Overseas Hwy, Long Key, mile marker 67.5.

Charlotte Twine fled her New York City corporate publishing life and happily moved to the Keys six years ago. She has written for Travel + Leisure, Allure, and Offshore magazines; Elle.com; and the Florida Keys Free Press. She loves her two elderly Pomeranians, writing stories that uplift and inspire, making children laugh, the color pink, tattoos, Johnny Cash, and her husband. Though not necessarily in that order.