March 2, 2017
The Conch Republic
By Mary Schricker Gemberling
“History, with all her volumes vast, hath but one page…”
George Gordon Byron
When Gary and I travel we love to learn about the local history and culture. Over the past few years we have visited museums, taken tours, and read books about many regions in Florida. While staying in Key Colony Beach in January of this year, I read an interesting book entitled, It Happened in the Florida Keys, by Victoria Shearer. Since the ‘Keys’ is known for its quirky ways and sometimes unsavory characters, all of the stories in the book were interesting, but the one I am going to share with you seems to have the most relevancy to our present-day struggles. With all the political turmoil of the past few months, it is easy to think the events and surrounding discord are unique only to this time in history. But that could not be farther from the truth! The following, somewhat humorous story, puts things in perspective.
The date is April 23, 1982. The people of the Florida Keys had been upset for nearly a week. On April 18th at precisely 3:30 pm, the United States Border Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration established a roadblock checkpoint on U.S. Highway 1, at the top of the Keys, in Florida City. The Federal agents searched all vehicles leaving the islands looking for undocumented aliens and illegal drugs. Since this was (and still is today) the only road in or out of the Keys, traffic was snarled and backed up over eighteen miles, trapping travel
ers in their cars for hours with no gas station or convenience stores in site. The roadblock continued day and night for nearly a week, paralyzing the Keys and threatening to choke off the islands livelihood—tourism. Press helicopters filmed from the sky, televising the ongoing event on the national evening news. Angered community leaders decided to take matters into their own hands. On Friday, April 23rd, Dennis Wardlow, the mayor of Key West hoisted an ocean-blue flag decorated with a flaming gold sun and a pink conch shell, and declared “The Conch Republic Proclamation of Succession.” Wardlow appointed himself the Prime Minister of the Conch Republic, and announced he would apply to the United Nations for $1 billion in foreign aid and war relief to rebuild the island nation. The secession made newspaper headlines across the United States. But without apology or explanation, the roadblock simply disappeared and was unceremoniously dismantled one night in June 1982. But the Conch Republic persevered as a state of mind. In 1994 two original tunes became the Republic’s official songs; Key Lime Pie, conch fritters, and conch chowder became national foods; and the hibiscus was voted its national flower. The choice of a national bird—the frigate or the pelican—is still undecided today. In a city where celebrations occur daily, Key West celebrates Conch Republic Independence Day each year by throwing a ten-day party. I can’t imagine how wild and crazy that party is!
Mary, a former educator and Seniors Real Estate Specialist, is the author of three books, The West End Kid, Labor of Love, and Hotel Blackhawk; a Century of Elegance.
