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Exploring Marathon
Settled in the 1830s by Bahamian immigrants who began farming on Vaca Key, Marathon is the most urban of the island centers, with department stores and an airport.
Much of the island is developed. But at its heart is Crane Point Hammock, 63 acres of natural tropical habitats owned by the Florida Keys Land & Sea Trust.
Adderly House at Crane Point HammockIt is inside this former botanical garden where remnants of the original Bahamian settlement of Adderly Village are preserved, including the first home built in the Florida Keys.
Marathon owes its explosive growth to the building of the Overseas Railroad. Workers camped out here to cross seven miles of open ocean with a railway trestle.
Fred the Tree on the Old Seven Mile Bridge from the new Seven Mile BridgeThe marathon of work they put in to complete the railroad on time gave this chain of thirteen islands its name.
Then came fishing. The piers of the Seven Mile Bridge created eddies that attracted tarpon, which in turn attracted sportsmen.
Roadside art at an outfitter’s shop in MarathonFishing is big throughout the Keys, but especially throughout Marathon. Numerous outfitters crowd US 1, and dive shops are big as well.
The original Seven Mile Bridge has been supplanted by a modern span with shoulders, but remains in use as a walking / biking trail to Pigeon Key, where the workers lived.
To the north, the natural habitats of Grassy Key are largely protected by Curry Hammock State Park, the Florida Overseas Heritage Trail extending south through Marathon to the bridge.
Overseas Heritage Trail on Grassy KeyTrails and Parks in Marathon
Articles
The Future of Florida’s Key Deer
A public meeting by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on August 22, 2019 is the first step in informing the public of the potential of Key deer being removed from the Endangered Species List.
The Florida Keys, Revisited
Nine months after Hurricane Irma, we headed to the Florida Keys to see how both the infrastructure and the natural areas are healing. Here’s an overview of what we found, from Key West to Key Largo.
Paradise, Palms, & Mosquitoes
My first exploration on the hiking trails of Marathon lead to thatch palm hammocks: the Curry Hammock Nature Trail at Curry Hammock State Park, and the trails of Crane Point Hammock, including the beautiful Palm Hammock Trail.