Key West Extension
Flagler was not content to rest by the time his railroad had reached Miami in 1896. The Florida Keys, a string of islands that reach more than 100 miles southwest from the southern tip of mainland Florida, appealed to Flagler. The outermost key, Key West, was only 90 miles from Havana, Cuba. Prior to the 1950s, there was a great deal of freight and passenger traffic between the U.S. and Cuba.; in addition, Key West was closer to the Panama Canal (then under construction) than any other U.S. port. In 1904, Flagler decided to extend his railroad to Key West.
The construction problems were formidable and labor turnover was high. The first portion of the line, from Homestead to Key Largo, was across swamp. The dredging of drainage canals provided material for the roadbed. Along Key Largo, however, the problem was not terrain but insects. Worse than either terrain or insects was the weather: a hurricane in September 1906 destroyed the initial work on the Long Key Viaduct and killed more than 100 laborers. In 1907, the opening of Long Key Viaduct, more than two miles of concrete arches (eventually becoming FEC's trademark), allowed service to begin to Knight's Key, where a marine terminal was built.
Hurricanes in 1909 and 1910 destroyed much of the completed railroad. After both hurricanes, work resumed at a faster pace — Flagler was 80 years old and wanted to ride all the way to Key West on his railroad. The completion of Seven Mile Bridge assured many that railroad would soon be completed. Flagler arrived in Key West on January 22, 1912 aboard his private railcar "Rambler", telling a welcoming crowd, “Now I can die happy. My dream is fulfilled.”
Regular service on the 156-mile extension — dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" — began the following day, with through sleepers between New York and Key West (called the Havana Special) and connections at Key West with passenger steamers and car ferries for Havana. Flagler died less than 18 months later in May 1913.
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