Cedar Key — Smugglers' Refuge Secrets

Your investigation begins at the Cedar Key Museum State Park, established in 1953 to preserve artifacts from the clamming era (1840-1920). On this 4-acre site, rebuilt after the 1896 hurricane, you'll discover exhibits on Cedar Key's role as a cedar wood export port around the 1830s. This introduction to the Florida State Park immerses you in the history of early settlers and Indian refugees, with relics from the second half of the 19th century bearing witness to the thriving life and trade that already attracted covetousness in this part of Florida.

The trail then leads you to the Cedar Key Railroad Trestle Nature Trail, a 0.4-mile path following the old railway trestle built in 1861 by David Levy Yulee. This line, which connected Fernandina to Cedar Key until 1927, was crucial for exporting cedar wood to Europe between 1860 and 1880. By exploring this emblematic relic of Cedar Key's economic boom, now part of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge since 1989, you'll understand how transport infrastructures shaped the town before its decline due to hurricanes.

Continue to the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1929 to protect migratory birds. This 370-acre refuge, including islands like Atsena Otie Key, is home to rare species such as bald eagles. You'll discover the Shell Mound Unit, a shell mound dating from 500 BC to 1000 AD, a Native American archaeological site that testifies to a millennial human presence. Its island isolation in the 19th century made it a haven for smuggling and illegal fishing, activities that marked Cedar Key's history.

The Cedar Key Cemetery, a historic cemetery dating from the 1840s, offers a glimpse into the lives and tragedies of Cedar Key's pioneers and victims of the 1896 hurricane. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2012, this approximately 1-acre site holds the grave of David Levy Yulee (1810-1866), a Floridian senator and promoter of the first trans-Florida railroad. The 19th-century stone markers and the burials of suspected smugglers and fishermen reflect the town's turbulent maritime history, a central aspect of the Old Florida Charm.

Your exploration concludes at Dock Street, the historic thoroughfare lining the harbor, developed in the 1840s as a center for cedar wood and seafood trade. An epicenter of maritime activity until 1927, with wooden docks accommodating steamers up to 100 feet, Dock Street is in immediate proximity to the Museum State Park. The early 20th-century buildings bear witness to the post-hurricane decline, but also to the exchanges, sometimes illicit, that animated the port. You leave with an understanding of the economic and natural forces that shaped Cedar Key, from its beginnings as an export port to its current status as a National Register of Historic Places site and a wildlife refuge.