-102 area
in March 1881. According to his postal application form he estimated serving a population of “About Two Hundred” which would
have been all or most of the island of Key Largo.
The 1870 census population of the island of Key Largo was 60. Of course post offices serves others than permanent residents.
This contributes to confusion as Commodore Kirk Munroe writes of sailing into Newport on Key Largo in 1866 which is the
name attributed to the same general area. Artifacts of a community exist behind the Newport Village housing area. Until about a
decade ago a large bee-hive community oven existed among the water cisterns and coral rock animal pen. It was typical of early
Keys communities to use community cooking ovens separate from the living area.
Alfred L. Baker established another post office in 1895 (to 1900) named Aiken in the mile marker 106 area to serve a population
"to exceed one hundred." By then the island's census (1885) population had increased to 230. Meanwhile, John W. Johnson at
Planter on the southern portion of Key Largo opened a post office in 1891 to serve "One hundred and fifty." The Aiken post office
closed in 1900 and transferred its mail responsibility to Planter. For more about Rock Harbor and Planter see pages for Rock
Harbor and Tavernier.
So we see that a community specifically named "Key Largo" had difficulty coming into existence. Continuing chronologically a
1905 Florida East Coast Railway land survey showed Planter as the only group of buildings on Key Largo Key. In fact, there were
more buildings shown on Plantation Key than on Key Largo.
A Key West Citizen newspaper article dated May 28, 1907 announced: "When the F.E.C. Railway was first completed to
Homestead and later to Jewfish Creek, an occasional passenger train was sent down to accommodate sightseers. Later, it
was found necessary to inaugurate a daily passenger train to accommodate the hundreds of settlers arriving in that district. "
Scheduled daily train service began in January 1908 from Miami to Marathon. On Key Largo Key the railroad had four stations:
Tavernier, Rock Harbor and Key Largo and a small building at Jewfish Creek mainly for the bridge tender. The telegraph station
was at the Key Largo depot, located at today's mile marker 105.6 just south of the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce. Although
there were other small platforms, only four were listed on a 1909 time table as flag-stops.
A James Clark was appointed postmaster of the Jewfish post office on May 7, 1908, but the order was rescinded for some
reason on August 18, 1908. Planter continued to be the only post office in the Middle and Upper Keys. When the railroad was
completed to Key West in 1912, a viable Jewfish, Florida, post office was opened on February 8, 1912. David Sasser was the
postmaster. Postal records show its name remained as Jewfish until May 31, 921, when it was renamed Key Largo. Additional
records support this timetable. The post office cash book of domestic money orders dated August 4, 1920 is titled "Jewfish." The
Register of Money Orders dated August 17, 1925 is labeled Key Largo. National Archive microfilm records also verifies this.
A copy of the 1926-27 F.E.C. insured property list shows "Jewfish Station, Bldg. No. 596, insured for $600" and nothing for
contents. The next location shows "Key Largo Station, Bldg. No. 1573, insured for $1,600, contents $150 and a Covered Platform
insured for $300." Both Jewfish and Key Largo have "agent's cottages" listed and no others are listed until Marathon. Some
assume that these were only for the telegraph operators, however, Islamorada had a telegraph operator, believed to have lived
in a private home.
The name change to Key Largo evidently occurred after appointing Wilbur Lofton as postmaster of Key Largo on April 18, 1921.
The same year on November 15, 1921, Mrs. Lillian Sexton was appointed postmaster. Around 1923, Lillian and Charles Sexton
traveled from Mississippi to build their "Venice" in Florida on Blackwater Sound, The Sexton's purchased the land just north of
the St. Justin Martyr Catholic