The Cedar Key Hurricane of 1842

Las Islas Sabinas, or the Cedar Islands, are a group a small islands in Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the Florida Big Bend area.

In 1836, General Zachary Taylor built a supply depot at what he called Depot Key, which is known today as Cedar Key. A hospital was added in 1840. A detention camp for prisoners of the Seminole Indian War was built on nearby Sea Horse Key. Prisoners were detained here before being sent westward on the “trail of Tears” to their permanent relocation in Oklahoma. Additional troop housing facilities were also built.
A powerful October hurricane swept across the Gulf of Mexico and struck the Florida Big Bend area on October 5, 1842. Damage was severe in Apalachicola and in the capital city, Tallahassee.

A 27 foot storm surge inundated Cedar Key, nearly covering the entire island. Many of the buildings on Depot Key were destroyed along with the 300 foot wharf. The hurricane would prompt the Army to abandon the installation.

Commercial development of the Keys followed the Army’s abandonment, and Cedar Key became a major seaport. Cedar Key would become famous for pencils. Three pencil companies were located on the islands because of the prized cedar trees there. With no thought toward conservation, the timber resource was depleted by 1900 and economic depression set in.

Hurricane Easy in 1950 would further decimate the economic infrastructure of Cedar Key, and its main employee, the Standard Fiber Company would close its brush making operation two years later. Today, Cedar Key is a fishing port and sleepy resort.

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