Key Biscayne
Key Biscayne is the southernmost of the offshore barrier islands known for its tranquil, upscale island atmosphere, featuring stunning beaches, lush parks like Crandon Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, and abundant outdoor activities such as boating, biking, and tennis.
The island is connected to the mainland by the Rickenbacker Causeway which was built in 1947 and named after Eddie Rickenbacker the most famous and most successful WWI fighter pilot. Later he became racecar driver and then President of Eastern Airlines.
The town itself lies between two large parks, Crandon Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and is the home of about 15.000 residents.
Before in 1513 Juan Ponce de León on his 1st mission to the New World arrived on that island, it was home to Tequesta Indians.
The first European settler was Pedro Fornells, who came with his wife Mariana, his family and his complete household in 1783. The Fornells were Menorcan settlers who came originally from the colony of New Smyrna in North Florida. Pedro Fornells received 71 hectares in the South of Key Biscayne from the king in 1805.
Before the Lighthouse was built, the Cape Florida Light was one of the places where slaves and Black Seminoles boarded ships for the Bahamas. This was known as the Saltwater Railroad, a migration that began when Spain transferred its Florida territory to the United States. Under the Spanish, many blacks were free, a right they feared would end under American rule.
In 1825 when it became part of the US, the Cape Florida lighthouse was erected but was destroyed 1836 during the Second Seminole War when Seminole Indians attacked the Lighthouse.
It was re-erected in 1846 and in 1878 the Cape Florida lighthouse was taken finally out of service.
Key Biscayne was first developed for coconut cultivation in late1830s, most likely grown from coconuts sent from Mexico by Henry Perrine to the first lighthouse keeper, John Dubose.
In 1908, William John Matheson, who had built a winter home in Coconut Grove began buying up over 1700 acre on Key Biscayne and created a plantation community for his 60 workers which included housing for the workers and their families, packing houses, docks, a school, a big barn, windmills, and 15 miles (24 km) of (unpaved) roads.
The plantation had 36,000 coconut trees, and a variety of other tropical fruits. The Matheson coconut plantation was the largest in the United States and operated until 1933 when the plantation due to the falling world price for coconut products stopped working.
In 1913 Waters Smith Davis, heir of the original Fornells grant, sold his for US$20,000, to James Deering, the International Harvester heir and owner of the Villa Vizcaya estate in Miami. Deering decided to develop his new land on the island as a tropical resort. He felt that Cape Florida's "future lies in making sales for homes."
In 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon purchased the first of his three waterfront homes, forming a compound known as the Florida White House on the island which included a Helicopter pad.
The break-in at the Democratic National committee headquarters in the Watergate complex were first discussed at Nixon's Key Biscayne compound and, as the Watergate scandal unfolded, Nixon retreated into seclusion there with greater regularity. Between 1969 and 1973, he visited Key Biscayne over 50 times before he sold the property in 1974.
His former house was used for filming several scenes in the 1983 gangster movie Scarface, starring Al Pacino; it featured as the home of Frank Lopez, played by Robert Loggia.
The original building was razed in July 2004 by than owner Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Realty.