Records of some of the first (44) settlers to No Name Key date back to 1870, while its’ larger neighbor, Big Pine Key, had only one (1) settler recorded.Fishing and salvaging were most likely the primary occupations of the earliest settlers.
No Name Key has a rich and colorful history dating back to the early 1900s.From 1928 until 1938 No Name key was the landing site for the Ferry, which resulted in the growth of a small community. This ferry was the only method of automobile transport between the Upper Keys (Lower Matacumbe Key) and the Lower Keys (No Name Key), as no road existed in between. The trip from Miami to Key West took 8 hours; four of these hours were spent on a the ferry crossing the 40-miles of water between Lower Matecumbe Key and No Name Key. The three ferries in service could carry 21 cars each, and had a restaurant and lounge topside. It was not unusual for trips to be delayed when ferries ran aground in the shallow waters.The ferry operated until 1938 when the Overseas Highway was completed on March 29, making it possible to drive all the way to Key West.
Old Ferry Landing on No Name Key
Infamous to the islands history, it was the training and staging grounds (mostly CIA trained American soldiers of fortune) of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961).It is reported that No Name Key was owned by Howard Hughes at the time. See:www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba/masferrer.htm(this has not been substantiated by this webmaster).
Additionally, No Name Key was the principal training site for the Intercontinental Penetration Force (“Interpen”). Interpen - IAB (again, reportedly CIA funded) was established in March of 1961 by Gerry Patrick Hemming. Interpen consisted of a group of freelance volunteer instructors training anti-Castro forces for raids on Cuba totally unrelated to the Bay of Pigs. The Miami Herald, December 5, 1962 http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/12-5-62.htm
Today’s No Name Key is a peaceful island; home to One small fishing camp, Two rock quarries, Forty-three homes (more than half of which are second home/winter residents), and Several Hundred Florida Key Deer.
We hope you enjoy your visit to No Name Key and enjoy viewing our Key Deer.
~Please leave nothing behind but good will: Don’t Litter!
The site is presented by a voluntary association of individuals working to develop a common resource of information on the Florida Keys.Most information is taken from published articles and media reports already in the public domain but gathered here for your convenience. This information is being provided freely, and no kind of agreement or contract is created between you and the owners or users of this site. We cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here.None of the contributors, administrators, or anyone else connected with this site in any way whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate or libelous information or for your use of the information contained in or linked from these web pages.
