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History
of
the
Card
Sound
Community
By
Jerry
Wilkinson
.
 Eight
to
eleven
miles
southeast
of
Florida
City
is
a
rare
community.
No
one
complains
of
unemployment
or
affordable
housing.
At
one
time
over
100
people
lived
here
and
all
had
waterfront
homes.
At
its
peak,
about
30
were
full
time
registered
voters.
Few
millionaires
can
boast
of
a
better
view
than
the
poorest
resident
here.
Back
in
the
60s
there
were
three
acknowledged
boat
renters
and
restaurants:
Bob
and
Lou’s,
Alabama
Jacks
and
Fred’s
place.
To
my
knowledge,
none
had
titles/deeds
to
their
properties.
The
photo
to
the
right
is
a
postcard
of
the
community
on
the
Dade
County
side
of
the
fill
circa
1959.
It
started
like
this:
After
the
rejection
of
a
Key
West
railway
route
via
Cape
Sable
in
1904,
Henry
Flagler
in
search
of
a
deep
water
seaport
hired
William
J.
Krome
to
survey
a
route
from
Homestead
to
Turtle
Harbor
just
off
shore
from
today's
Ocean
Reef
Club.
Krome
surveyed
and
platted
a
route
southeast
from
Homestead
across
the
shallows
between
Little
Card
Sound
and
Barnes
Sound
to
North
Key
Largo
headed
to
the
coastline
in
line
with
Turtle
Harbor.
Before
he
completed
this
survey
he
was
called
to
St.
Augustine
and
directed
to
proceed
with
a
railroad
route
down
the
Keys
to
Key
West.
He
already
had
a
route
surveyed
across
Little
Card
Sound
to
North
Key
Largo,
but
a
quick
cost
analysis
revealed
it
would
be
better
to
go
across
the
Everglades
directly
to
Jewfish
Creek.
This
would
be
much
easier,
shorter
and
a
narrower
span
of
water
to
bridge
than
bridge
across
Little
Card
Sound.
What
he
did
not
know
was
the
existence
of
Lake
Surprise
which
later
had
to
be
bridged
across
in
addition
to
Jewfish
Creek.
Had
he
known
of
Lake
Surprise,
perhaps
he
would
have
continued
with
the
Little
Card
Sound
route.
We
do
not
know,
so
let's
continue
as
it
was
done.
Some
time
in
the
mid
1920s,
Dade
County
and
Monroe
County
began
building
a
highway
to
link
the
mainland
to
Key
West
or
vice
versa.
The
route
across
Little
Card
Sound
was
chosen.
Road
construction
began
on
June
20,
1924
before
The
Great
Hurricane
of
1926
which
caused
a
major
disruption
to
the
project
in
the
Card
Sound
area.
The
photo
to
the
right
is
dredging
to
make
the
road
bed
on
the
Dade
County
side
in
1925.
The
photo
below
that
is
looking
back
towards
Dade
County
of
the
causeway
being
prepared.
The
project
regrouped
and
made
the
swing
bridge
that
was
damaged
by
the
1926
Hurricane
six
feet
higher
than
before.
In
the
meantime
a
barge
pulled
a
car
ferry
transporting
cars
to
and
from
Homestead
and
the
east
side
Card
Sound
at
a
point
called
Pelican’s
Roost.
The
project
was
completed
in
1928
but
had
a
40
mile
water
gap
in
the
Middle
Keys
served
by
ferry
boats.
Some
referred
to
the
mainland
area
as
an
extension
of
South
Dixie
Highway,
but
the
official
name
was
State
Road
4-A.
The
Card
Sound
causeways
were
just
that,
approaches
to
the
drawbridge.
Then
came
the
1935
Hurricane
destroying
40
miles
of
the
F.E.C.
Railway
(The
Key
West
Extension)
and
the
water
gap
was
eliminated
by
widening
the
old
railroad
bridges.
The
Card
Sound
route
continued
as
before
as
the
Gateway
to
the
Florida
Keys.
World
War
II
was
about
to
change
things.
The
U.S.
Navy
at
Key
West
required
better
roads
and
especially
bridges.
Most
of
the
bridges
at
the
two
ends
of
the
overseas
highway
still
utilized
the
narrow
wooden
bridges
built
in
the
1920s
and
would
not
support
the
heavy
trucks
to
transport
the
needed
heavy
military
equipment.
The
Navy
financed
two
major
highway
improvements
–
they
eliminated
both
the
old
1928
SR
4A
routes
in
the
Upper
and
the
Lower
Keys.
This
also
made
the
route
14
miles
shorter.
For
us
in
the
Upper
Keys
the
improvement
was
the
construction
of
the
“18
mile
stretch”
over
the
original
Flagler
railroad
bed.
Once
opened
there
was
no
need
for
the
old
Card
Sound
route
as
Ocean
Reef
was
not
yet
even
purchased,
must
less
developed.
Monroe
County
did
not
want
to
maintain
the
now
seldom
uses
wooden
Card
Sound
swing
bridge,
so
the
bridge
was
removed.
Dade
County
then
cut
back
on
the
maintenance
of
their
part
of
SR
4A.
Dade
County
did
receive
some
rumblings
about
the
need
to
support
the
road
for
fishing
purposes;
however,
maintenance
was
the
absolute
minimum.
To
facilitate
the
fishing
group,
the
state
made
leases
for
co-called
fishing
camps,
much
like
the
feds
did
for
hunting
camps
in
the
Everglades
National
Park.
What
remained
were
two
causeways
without
a
center
connection;
therefore,
there
was
no
through
traffic,
but
ideal
fishing
areas.
Leases
or
not,
a
small
community
grew
along
the
right-of-way
south
east
of
the
AT&T
satellite
station.
The
west
side
of
the
two
lane
highway
is
a
canal
dug
for
fill
to
construct
the
original
1920s
highway.
The
map
at
the
right
is
from
a
Miami
Herald
newspaper
of
1964.
One
of
those
living
there
decades
ago
was
Doyle
Green.
At
age
17,
Doyle
was
dying
of
cancer
at
Jackson
Memorial
Hospital
when
he
found
God.
Doyle
is
quoted
as
saying
“The
Lord
turned
the
ceiling
of
the
room
into
a
TV
screen”
and
“He
told
me
he
was
going
to
give
me
new
lungs.”
Green
would
not
live
in
Miami
and
moved
to
a
shack
he
named
Noah's
Ark”
at
Card
Sound
where
he
began
painting
religious
signs.
One
of
the
signs
reads
“Talking
to
God
is
better
than
Talking
to
your
Yourself.”
A
neighbor
of
Green
was
Clarence
Roberts
and
his
wife,
Loren.
As
many
of
the
others,
they
make
their
livelihood
from
the
surrounding
waters,
mostly
selling
blue
crabs.
On
the
eastern
side
of
the
county
line,
about
a
quarter
of
a
mile
of
the
causeway
our
to
where
the
bridge
use
to
be,
belongs
to
Monroe
County.
Bob
and
Lou’s
were
most
eastward
of
the
camps.
Bob
and
Lou
Harris
squatted,
then
leased
on
the
causeway
shortly
after
WW
II
circa
1948.
Florida
Power
and
Light
ran
power
out
the
causeway
and
Bob
and
Lou
was
to
last
customer
on
the
route
–
the
most
southern
customer,
but
there
was
no
public
drinking
water.
They
got
along
as
all
families
did
before
the
pipeline
–
water
cisterns
and
when
needed,
or
they
hauled
it
in.
Many
of
the
residents
travel
back
and
forth
to
Homestead
almost
daily
for
various
reasons;
therefore,
bringing
water
back
is
no
real
problem.
Another
early
family
were
the
Kirklands.
There
were
G.
D.,
the
father,
and
his
son,
Dan,
and
wife
Smitty.
The
father
retired
from
Western
Union
and
kicked
around
southern
Florida
before
stumbling
on
Card
Sound.
A
place
was
for
sale
for
$1,000
with
no
property
title,
but
he
snapped
it
up
anyway.
Eventually,
the
location
became
Smitties
Place.
Then
there
is
Alabama
Jack’s.
His
real
name
is
Jack
Stratham
and
is
from
Sumpter
County,
Georgia,
not
Alabama.
There
were
several
workers
named
Jack
on
one
of
his
first
jobs
and
was
dubbed
“Alabama
Jack.”
He
did
not
know
why
but
relates
it
could
have
been
his
southern
accent
and
they
did
not
know
the
difference
between
Alabama
and
Georgia.
In
his
real
life
he
was
first
a
riveter
working
on
the
Empire
State
building;
then
a
multi-talented
construction
worker
working
on
pipelines/refineries
through
out
the
world.
Jack
is
married
to
Alice,
who
is
equally
famous
for
her
crab
cakes.
The
photo
at
the
right
is
of
Jack
Stratham
in
a
1971
Miami
Herald
photo.
Jack
and
Alice
bought
the
Card
Sound
lease
in
1953
from
a
Miami
plumber.
Alabama
Jack’s
place
is
just
across
the
county
line
in
Monroe
County
and
still
has
a
lease.
His
initial
intention
was
for
a
weekend
place
and
a
place
to
keep
his
boat.
Soon
there
were
seven
boats
and
then
an
old
railroad
building
as
a
home.
After
each
hurricane,
especially
Donna
in
1960
and
Betsy
in
1965,
he
remodeled
with
each
one
a
tad
bit
larger.
The
new
elevated
Card
Sound
Bridge
was
opened
in
1969
providing
easier
and
shorter
access
for
Ocean
Reef
and
the
Angler’s
Club
as
well
as
a
second
entrance
route
in
and
out
of
the
Keys.
Also,
a
huge
growth
increase
of
North
Key
Largo
estimated
by
some
to
be
100,000
necessitated
better
access
from
the
mainland.
Some
of
the
old
bridge
approaches
had
to
be
used
for
the
new
bridge,
but
Alabama
Jack’s
as
well
as
most
of
the
fish
camps
remained.
The
need
for
increased
capacity
via
Card
Sound
is
thought
to
have
been
the
contributing
factor
for
Dade
County
code
enforcement
in
1975
to
evict
all
residents
who
do
not
have
a
current
property
lease.
In
June
A
Country-and-Western
musical
group,
The
Shade
Trees
led
by
Shade
Stevens,
performed
a
fund
raising
event
at
the
Fred's
Barn,
owner
Howard
McQuaid,
with
over
100
attending
raising
over
$1,000
to
help
fight
the
evictions.
Jack
died
in
1977
shortly
after
he
and
Alice
moved
to
Homestead.
He
was
buried
near
channel
marker
27.
One
of
the
later
Alabama
Jack’s
owners
was
Don
Sullivan
who
instituted
a
clogging
band
every
weekend.
See
photo
at
the
right.
In
1980,
Don
sold
to
Rose
Presti
and
if
I
am
not
out
of
date,
I
believe
Phyllis
Sague
is
the
present
owner.
Now
political
pressure
is
on
to
build
the
Card
Sound/CR905
highway
wider
to
better
serve
as
an
additional
route
to/from
the
Keys
and
especially
to
augment
hurricane
evacuation
for
the
ever
increasing
development
in
Keys
southward.
Monroe
County
is
supposed
to
be
able
to
totally
evacuate
all
residents,
guests
and
tourists
in
24
hours,
or
cease
building
new
places.
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