I wanted more info about this disaster so I did some looking online. Some of the details are unclear to me.
The postcard says “all aboard perished” (other than the engineer and fireman in the locomotive), but you mention in your comment above that the last survivor died not long ago. I’m guessing you mean the veteran and civilian survivors, not the train’s passengers. But…
The Library of Congress caption for this photo says that the rescue train didn’t even reach the Army work camps: “On the day of the storm, officials sent a train to evacuate the men, but it failed to reach the camps located on Lower Matecumbe Key.” So who was on the train?
The Wikipedia article about the hurricane says “Remarkably, everyone on the train survived.” The source for this is Scott Loftin of the ECR: “The train was never able to reach the veterans’ camp on Lower Matecumbe. The crew of the train, with some veterans who had boarded it on its way south, were all saved. If the train had not been delayed at Quarry it appears quite certain that the train, with all of its crew, would have been destroyed and lost. As it is, the train is marooned, badly damaged and unable to return to Miami until the track is restored.”
There’s more confusion to be had. In his article on the Keys History page, author Jerry Wilkinson notes that “…the only things left standing on Lower Matecumbe Key were the two water tanks. All buildings were destroyed. There were no civilian permanent residents on the Key at that time.” Yet the WP article reports the death toll as 257 veterans and 228 civilians (per the Florida Emergency Relief Administration).
Wilkinson goes on: “The 1935 hurricane destroyed 40 miles of railroad track, but all the steel and/or concrete bridges were undamaged. The railroad right-of-way property was sold for $640,000 and was converted into what the author [who? unclear] refers to as the second (1938) Overseas Highway. This highway eventually became a continuous vehicular road from the mainland to Key West with two tollgates.” Ironically / tragically, the veterans were there to help construct the Overseas Highway.
The destruction of the veterans’ work camps led to an investigation by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (precursor to the WPA), which is an interesting tale in its own right. The final report on the investigation was suppressed for decades, again according to WP.
Anyway, thanks for your creative work and the rabbit holes it leads me down. I’m really looking forward to the next series!
very pretty decor btw
