Submarine Propeller Shaft Bearings Traditional Cache

The placement of this cache has been authorized by the manager of the Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park. Park is closed Tuesday and Wednesdays. Open remaining days of the week from 0800 until 1700.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago when sea level was higher than its present level, the Upper Keys were a living coral reef. As sea level fluctuated over time, coral reefs have been alternately submerged and exposed, allowing the coral polyps, the small animals that build the reef, to create large structures. When sea level dropped, the coral was exposed forming the islands of the Florida Keys. Over time, the island was colonized by plants from the Bahamas, Caribbean and West Indies as seeds were transported by wind, sea and in the intestinal tract of migrating birds, most notably the white-crowned pigeon. The tropical hardwood hammock that thrives on this island was once common on the highest elevations in the Upper Keys.

Lignumvitae Key appears on a 1760 Spanish chart as Cayo de la Leña, or Key of the Wood. This is roughly the English equivalent of log, timber or firewood. In 1763, the British had their turn and named it Jenkinson Island after Lord of the Admiralty Charles Jenkinson. It is generally assumed that it acquired its present name due to the quantity of the lignumvitae trees found on the island. It is one of the highest points in the Keys (over five meters) and one of the more beautiful.

The Lignumvitae tree, guaiacum sanctum, is native to South Florida and is heavier than water having a specific gravity of 1.39. It usually flowers in March - April producing star-like blue flowers with five petals. It is also known as holy wood, palo santo and greenheart. The black wood is highly valued for its strength and durability. One use was for propeller shaft bearings in submarines and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, maintained a number of logs from Lignumvitae trees, submerged in a small pond on the shipyard. Keeping the logs in water was required as the wood tends to crack severely when left to dry out in air.

One of the first surviving written accounts of man's presence on Lignumvitae Key is recorded in the diary of William Hackley, written while he traveled throughout the Keys. On Thursday, February 24, 1831 he records his arrival on Indian Key. After describing other incidents, his Friday, February 25 diary entry is as follows: ". . . After breakfast went ashore on Lignumvitae Key where Capt. Rooke has built a house for the purpose of obtaining preemption right. It is about 3 miles from Indian Key and is about 3 miles in circumference and is heavily timbered and a fine soil. In one place when a well was dug a quantity of stiff red clay was found. A quantity of Lignum Vitae grows on the key from whence it derives its name."

The significant coral rock walls on the western end of the island are an enigma. They extend for a total length of about 3,000 feet. Legend has it that they were built by the early Spanish; yet, early writings do not mention the walls.

Ownership was transferred in 1919 to the Biscayne Chemical Company, whose president was William John Matheson. The Wisconsin-born Matheson had accumulated considerable wealth developing chemical dyes. Moving to southern Florida, the Matheson family had extensive holdings on the mainland and in the Upper Keys. It was he who was responsible for most of the visible structures seen today.   

Apparently serious about his new acquisition, he employed a full-time manager for whom he constructed the existing coral rock home.

Hugh Matheson introduced a wide variety of exotic plants and animals. The story goes that he brought in Mexican burros, Angora goats, peacocks and 60 Galapagos tortoises. Hugh and Charles Brookfield moved six cannons recovered from the British warship HMS Winchester as outside decorations. (The Winchester ran aground on Carysfort Reef in 1665. About one third of its original crew of 350 had died of disease before and all but one of the remaining were eventually saved by another ship.)

The Hugh Matheson family held onto the island until it was finally sold to three Miamians in 1953. The following year the new owners employed Charlotte and Russell Niedhauk as caretakers of the island.      

In the mid-1960s development and causeways were proposed for both Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key. Obviously, neither was developed. Local citizens protested the proposals and both islands ended up as Florida State Parks. One difference was, however, Lignumvitae Key had resident managers loved by all the locals. After the state assumed ownership in 1970, a misunderstanding ensued between the managers and the Tallahassee bureaucrats. The state won and the managers moved away in 1978.