The Spanish Claim on Sand Key

The early 1600s were a busy time for the Spanish fleet. Since the domination of South America by Spain, the plundering of Gold, Silver and rare Jewels such as Emeralds from the South American mines became a high priority. Galleons that were built for war became the primary method of transport as the Spanish treasury became increasingly more wealthy. After all, domination of the hemisphere and increase in size of the Spanish Armada was the goal. A constant flow of ships between Europe, South America,and Cuba became the norm. There were of course challenges and problems to be solved. The weather patterns along that route were highly disruptive to their passages. Timing and avoidance was everything. Also that nasty Florida Limestone Reef could cut out the underbelly of any Galleon passing through the zone. Spain decided to claim Sand Key in the midst of this reef and in doing so created the first signal light in the area. They placed a man on the key and his one and only job was to keep a lantern burning each night on a pole erected on the key to prevent traffic from piling up on the reef. Apparently he lived well on Sand Key and did well sharing his time with mermaids, fish, cormorant eggs, sea turtle soup, and of course those lovely lobster. An occasional retreat to the shore of Key West was a necessity to survive hurricanes. Even so, other reefs and hurricanes prevailed and created some of the most treasure intensive shipwrecks of all time including the 1622 Armada sinking and the Atocha.