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Long ago, in a time when the sea embraced the land more closely, the Upper Keys stood as vibrant coral reefs. Through eons of shifting tides and changing waters, the coral formations rose and fell, a dance of creation.

As the sea receded, the coral reefs emerged, shaping the unique landscape of the Florida Keys.

Through a natural process of dispersal, the island welcomed a variety of plant species from distant shores like the Bahamas, Caribbean, and West Indies. Seeds carried by wind, sea currents, and migrating birds like the white-crowned pigeon found a new home on this island. The lush tropical hardwood hammock that thrives here once blanketed the highest points of the Upper Keys.

In the year 1919, William J. Matheson, a prosperous chemist from Miami, acquired this 280-acre island and constructed a caretaker’s dwelling complete with a windmill for power and a rainwater cistern.

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