Big Pine Key history

Timeline

1. 1912 — The railroad arrives. Henry Flagler's Over-Sea Railroad is completed; the first train reaches Key West on Jan. 22, linking the Keys to the mainland until the 1935 hurricane.
2. 1929 — The Bat Tower. Richter Clyde Perky builds a 30-foot tower at mile marker 17 to house mosquito-eating bats. No bats ever moved in.
3. 1955 — Grimal Grove. Adolf Grimal hand-builds a tropical garden from limestone; it's later restored as a breadfruit grove and fruit park.
4. 1957 — National Key Deer Refuge. The refuge is set up to protect the tiny Key deer, once near extinction; the population has rebounded to about 600–700.
5. 1998 — Adolphus Busch wreck. A 210-foot freighter is sunk upright in 100 feet of water about 7 miles southwest of Big Pine Key as a dive site.

Sources: Florida Keys: 200 Years of Paradise timeline (Florida Keys & Key West tourism council, with historian Brad Bertelli). Checked Oct 9, 2026.

Museums & historic sites

• National Key Deer Refuge · Big Pine Key

  Wildlife refuge, not a museum — drive slowly, deer cross the road.

  Hours & admissionDirections