"Sailin' away to Key Largo" might have been a little more difficult than the popular 1980's song suggested, especially prior to
1870. Throughout this article care must be exercised to differentiate between Key Largo the island and Key Largo the
community. The island of Key Largo is about 27 miles long and consists of about 22,000 acres. For a comparison, the next
largest island is Big Pine Key consisting of about 5,800 acres.
A note on the word "Key" used to identify an island. Its origin is not well established except by usage. Most believe that it began
by the Spanish adapting the word "cayo' from the Taino Indians of Hispanola and Cuba referring to small islands. The Spanish
normally used "isla" for island and "islet" for small island. At least in the New World, they appear to use "cayo" and "cayuelo" for
a very small island. The English used "Cay" or "Kay" such as Cay Sal Banks. Cay is pronounced as the letter "K." English maps
of the Keys made just prior to the Revolutionary War of 1776 used the word "Key." A Colonial American court record of the "Libel
of Dennis and Allen vs the snow St. Fermin alias Britanis" in 1744 used the word "Keys" referring to the Florida Keys. See the
Admiralty Papers, Vol. 2, 1743 -1744.
The 1639 Johannes Vingloons chart labeled the island of Key Largo as "Caio dos 12 Ligues." The Roggeveen chart of 1675
referred to it as "Caio dos Doces Leugnes (Key of 12 leagues)." The 1733 Spanish chart made during the effort to recover the
treasure of the New Spain armada after its sinking off of the Upper Keys referred to Key Largo as "Cayo Largo." Another chart
made in 1760 by J. Proctor also named it "Cayo Largo." The William De Brahm chart of 1772 shows it as "Peninsular Larga."
Bernard Romans published a 1774 chart that used the specific words "Key Largo."
The first hint of a community of Key Largo was an 1870 post office named Cayo Largo in the present day Rock Harbor area. The
Cayo Largo post office closed and Menendez Johnson established a post office named Largo in the mile marker 101-102 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 L