- HISTORY OF THE UPPER KEYS -
Work of the World War One veterans in the Keys
- Camp 1, Plantation Key Quarry -
 - By Jerry Wilkinson -

Posted June 25, 2010
       One of the little known bits of Upper Keys history was the WW-1 Veterans' Quarry on the southern end of Plantation Key - just north of the entrance to Venetian Shores subdivision - MM 86 bayside. Many are familiar with the Windley Key quarries, but this was a federal quarry. When you study the veterans' project here the word quarry refers to the Plantation Key Quarry. Post 1935 Hurricane horror stories usually refer the Windley Key quarries as the Plantation Key quarry was one 8-foot layer and did not create much of a depression, pit or hole. It quarried off the top of a knoll. If garage of filling station is mentioned, these most likely refers to the Plantation Key quarry as it did have both to support the quarry and the transportation of it products. Most 5-ton slabs were transported by rail. My estimate of the quarry's size in 1935 is about 4-acres.
        The photos below are not of good quality and are scanned 1935 aged and faded Key Veteran News newspapers doctored with Adobe Photoshop. Photos of newspapers of the era were printed using the 'half-tone' process which are very small  black dots representing dark areas on a white background. Light gray objects tend to disappear into the then white paper's now brown color stained paper. H
original siteowever, if not for these I have not found actual photos as I have for post 1935 hurricane data.
     From page 5 of the Key Veteran News, page 5, we read: "Ten days after our arrival in camp, we were told that our main  work-project would be the quarrying of  rock for the overseas bridges to Key West." This was the text for the number 1 photo one of a collage of eight photos.  The "we" of this text were the 350 veterans under Capt. Robertson arriving at Windley Keys on November 6, 1934. A contingent of 50 men had preceded this group to prepare a dining room and kitchen. This was not actually an article, but a 11 x 11 3/4 inch collage of eight photos of unknown origin with numbers imprinted on each photo (At the lower-left of this photo) with a narrative description below. The above quotation is the description of photo one.  Tstart clearingoday this area would be at about MM 86 bayside just across from the FDOT weigh station. There are building now built on the site, but was vacant in 1991 when Bernard Russell of Islamorada showed it to me. The area appears more or less level now (not a hole) but was quite elevated before the quarrying.
      Photo 2 shows the beginning of clearing for the actual quarry site. Quoting "That land was covered by mahogany and various other trees and very thick undergrowth." I assume this clearing is being done by the some of the new 350 vets.
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    Photo 3 shows the clearing of the vehicle garage, gasoline dispensers and tool
buildings. This part of the quarry is between the railroad and the highway, where the quarry itself is west of both ofgarage site those. The railroad is below the line of sight and parallel with the telephone/telegraph poles. We will see the actual building in photo 4.
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      Photo 4 scanned very poorly so I substituted a regular photo showing the
present quarry area, present being June 1935. The description strenchingtates: "...where the boys received their first instruction in sawing stones to measurements for a Roman arch bridge. Their sawing was done by common wood cross-cut saws through blocks of stone measuring 30 inches wide by 4 feet long and 8 feet deep [This is the finished size - JW], the first operation of its kind known in quarry annals. The men quickly mastered the art of push and pull and each became an expert stone sawyer. The original photo did not show this description and the one I substituted at least shows the trencher at work and the garage and tool buildings in the background. The trench or ditch cuts were 30 inches wide and 8 feet deep. A second pass with trencher was made perpendicular to the above rows to appear as a checkerboard pattern. Another photo is below photo 4 to further clarify this procedure. The vertical slabs were then scored and brcorall slabsoken loose at the bottoms to form the rough finished product to be transported to the finishing yard for hand sawing into the prescribed sizes.  A gin-pole stiff legged derrick off camera manipulated the slabs after cutting. As of May 4, 1935, about 88,000 cubic feet had been sawed. Two men averaged  82 cubic feet per day. The remainder of the photos all show groups of men sawing the coral blocks. The resolution is poor but the railroad is much lower in elevation than the surrounding areas.
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     Photo 5 is of a group at the sawing benches. There are two men standing o
Pic 5n top of the bench sawing one of the 8 foot slabs. Each finished slab weighed about five tons. The cross-cut saws were actually specially tempered 5-foot two-man saws.  The first hand cut blocks were cut on December 12, 1934. They are about ready to remove the bench so they can saw lower eventually separating the side pieces. The description is as follows: "In Picture 5 are: Roy, Diamond, Midrick, Cook, Pawa, Allman, Rooney, O'Donnell, Connolly, Kirby, Scott, Cunningham, and Thompson."
      Unfortunately the images are poor, but we can at least give names of the veterans. I will use spaces to facilitate alignment of the photos.
      There are 8 photos in this series and then a series of unidentified even poorer quality images.
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        Photo 6 is another group photo showing the work bench better. The descri
ption is" Picture 6 are shown: Nabal, Martin,Photo 6 Rooney, Pawa, Stypczynski, Oswald, Neary, Allman, Weir and Nabal.
         The sawyers worked in relief teams and swapped turns as appropriate to the weather and conditions of the men. Some teams sawed faster than others and in time would pair up as appropriate.
     

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        Photo 7 is another group of working veterans and the description is: "In Picture
photo 7e 7 are: Cunningham, Morley, Ericson, Sims, Huggins, Gaudet. Oswald, Neary, Allman, and Scott."
    The rough cut blocks were not always moved out of the solaced pit
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        Photo 8 is another group of workers with their work benches, blocks of coral and the description is: "In Picture 8 we see: Scott,
StypczyPhoto 8nski, Johnson, Nye, McCarthy, Thompson, Neary, Ulrich, Martin and Nabal."
        Under the description reads: "The mosquito being out of season in those days, some of the men are shown stripped to the waist and exposed to the helpful elements of sunniest Florida. From this we learn that these photos were taken before June 1, 1935.
        The stone cutting was done under the able direction of Henry Freeman, superintendent of the quarry, Leader E. J. Martin and Assistant Leaders Nabal and Neary."
         From Plantation Key the finished blocks of coral, known today as 'Keystone' were transported to Camp 3 docks at southern Lower Matecumbe Key and relayed out to the prepared bridge pier coffer dams (forms) and lowered in with concrete poured  totally enclosing  each block. Henry Flagler used all concrete for his bridge piers, but evidently for vehicles this would suffice. I have never located any specifications, drawings, etc. for this project. At about MM 73. 3, depending on visibility because of vegetation, etc., three finished piers and 5 partially completed piers are visible today. These piers and the small island between the piers and Lower Matecumbe Key are all that remain of actual work performed by the WW-I Veterans.
        Below are five miscellaneous images which I have with no descriptions, but obviously of the Veterans' camp 1 and the quarry. The images were all on one sheet of white paper.
misc 2Misc1
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     - End of Plantation Key Quarry -

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