se nearby. Both survived the 1935 hurricane even though
the downstairs portions were completely flooded.
The mother of local attorney Jeff Gautier purchased the Largo Sound Castle in 1952. It had been vacant since the death of Dr.
Engel in 1945 and was sometimes referred to as the "Haunted house on Largo Sound." She remodeled the house and
removed the stone parapets along the roof line for safety reasons. A facsimile was later built in Dade County and "The Castle"
remains one of the oldest structures in the Upper Keys still standing in its original location. Many tales have been spun about
ghosts, etc. about the rock castle and it is located at the foot of Oceana Drive MM 103.5, oceanside.
The big plans for the 1920s community of Key Largo never materialized. As previously mentioned, between 1923 and 1927 there
were 26 subdivisions platted, but little actual construction. After 1927 there were no new subdivisions platted and recorded until
the 1940s on Key Largo. A category-three hurricane struck the Key Largo area in 1929, with winds estimated at 150 miles per
hour and tides up to 8.8 feet in the Garden Cove area.
Key Largo resumed its citrus economy, with the bust of the Florida Land Boom. Key limes and grapefruit were the principal
products. Perhaps the largest single packing house was the Chapman packing house immediately north of the Key Largo
depot. The introduction of the Persian lime on the mainland doomed the key lime as a Keys commercial product. Throughout
the Keys, visitors started to become the most important product and charter fishing would become an industry onto itself, as an
element of increased tourism.
With the destruction of 40 miles of railroad in the hurricane of September 1935, the railroad was not rebuilt and ceased
operations. The early Key Largo post office was discontinued on March 15, 1936 and mail responsibilities transferred to Rock
Harbor. Most new building moved south toward Rock Harbor, now included in the area of present-day Key Largo.
This action gave a Rock Harbor address to everyone on Key Largo Key living north of Tavernier. And once again, the community
of Key Largo had no definable center or identity. The old Rock Harbor Post Office, a small building located at mile marker 100,
was recently demolished in 1993, quietly erasing another small piece of Key's history.
In 1939 Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher began constructing the Caribbean Club, but failing health precluded him attending
the January 1940 opening. The use of the Club's facade for the filming of the 1948 movie “Key Largo, based on Maxwell
Anderson's Broadway play, gave the name Key Largo instant popularity. A 1955 fire in the hotel portion of the club took the life of
a Miami woman allegedly in the room of a Long Island doctor and prompted an investigation. Ruthie Whitehurst purchased the
club from Richard Craig in 1962 and has operated the club to present.
The movie "Key Largo" occurred during the tenure of George Brown as the Rock Harbor postmaster. Local businessmen
wanted to capitalize on the international popularity of Key Largo, but there was not even a Key Largo mailing address. In 1952,
the name of the Rock Harbor Post Office was arbitrarily changed to the Key Largo Post Office. Nothing really changed except the
post office sign and the cancellation stamp. The effect was to combine Key Largo, Rock Harbor, the Ocean Reef Club, the
Angler's Club and Newport into one postal community, and everybody north of Tavernier had Key Largo as a new address.
Outgoing letters were postmarked Rock Harbor on May 31, 1952 and Key Largo on June 1, 1952. It was then that the name of
Key Largo as a community, not as an island, was resurrected.
A definite increase in growth was experienced by Key Largo in the 1950s. This was generally due to the end of World War II, the
fresh water pipe line, public electricity, a certified High school and mosquito control. In my collection, the first published phone
book was dated "Corrected Through November 8, 1951;" therefore, I assume there was one before this. The following is a count
of liste