Islandia
In 1961, Elliott Key became part of Islandia, an umbrella place name incorporating a total of 33 islands in the northern keys. The hope was to create an accessible sub-tropical getaway for tourists. To reach Islandia, a highway was planned that would have connected Card Sound Road to the northern keys via a six-lane highway built through the property known today as Ocean Reef.
Fortunately for the environment, a group of people looking to preserve the natural beauty of Biscayne Bay and the surrounding islands fought the 13 property owners who unanimously voted to create Islandia (and the same group looking to secure tremendous profits). Also on tap for the area was a desire to create Seadade, a major seaport that would necessitate the dredging of a 40- foot-deep channel through Biscayne Bay.
The fight between those seeking to construct a tourist Mecca and those hoping to preserve the idyllic beauty proved contentious. At one point members of the pro-Islandia camp brought bulldozers to Elliott Key and carved a swath through the hammock six lanes wide and seven miles long. While environmentalist would ultimately win the war, the resulting path carved across Elliott Key meant solely to deface the habitat earned the nickname Spite Highway. The event occurred days prior to Congress, led by Representative Dante Fascell, drafting a bill creating Biscayne National Monument in order to protect, “a rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and amphibious life in a tropical setting of great natural beauty.”
The bill was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on October 18, 1968. President Jimmy Carter would sign a bill elevating the monument to Biscayne National Park on June 28, 1980. In 2012, Islandia, Florida’s least populated city, population 5, was officially unincorporated. Today Elliott Key offers peaceful wonder and overnight camping sites while Spite Highway, partially reclaimed by nature, offers the island’s only hiking trail.
