Everything about Flamingo Florida totally explained
Flamingo is an
unincorporated community in
Monroe County,
Florida,
United States. It began as a small coastal settlement on the eastern end of
Cape Sable on the southern tip of the Florida
peninsula, facing
Florida Bay. It is now the southernmost headquarters of
Everglades National Park, the end of the 99-mile Wilderness Waterway known as the
Ten Thousand Islands, and the southern end of the only road (running 38 miles) through the park from
Florida City.
Early years
The
settlement received its name in
1893, when the
settlers had to choose a name for their new post office. They chose the
flamingo as the most distinctive bird seen in the area. While the flamingo didn't breed in Florida, birds from
Cuba and the
Bahamas once traveled in large numbers to the area. Flamingos were last seen in large numbers in the area in
1902. The post office was closed in
1909.
After the end of the
Seminole Wars there were scattered settlements on
Cape Sable, including at Flamingo. The settlers made a living by providing fish, fresh vegetables and
charcoal to
Key West.
Life in Flamingo could be unpleasant. Leverett White Brownell, a
naturalist, visited Flamingo in
1893. He described the village of 38 "shacks" on stilts as infested with
fleas and
mosquitos. He claimed to have seen an oil lamp extinguished by a cloud of mosquitoes. He also stated that flea powder was the "staff of life" and that the cabins were thickly
sooted from the use of
smudge pots. He added that tomatoes, asparagus and eggplant were the principal crops.
Flamingo had a small
boom in the early
20th century when
speculators thought that
Henry Flagler would choose a route for his
Florida East Coast Railway across Florida Bay to Key West. A fish house was built in Flamingo in
1908, and
fishing became the primary occupation of the town. The Ingraham Highway from
Homestead reached Flamingo in
1922, but was poorly maintained and virtually impassable in wet weather until the
National Park Service gave it a
gravel top in the late
1940s. During
prohibition moonshining became a major occupation in Flamingo, but was eventually suppressed by government agents.
A trail called the Snake
Bight Trail provides an alternative
pedestrian access to the sea to the east of Flamingo, but its two-mile length is notorious for the number and ferocity of the
mosquitos.
Another pleasant trail is the Christian Point Trail. It leads through open saltwater marl prairie to Christian Point. The area got its name, so they say, when it was used as a mass grave after the
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 washed numerous dead bodies from the Keys ashore.
Flamingo today
Flamingo used to consist of the Flamingo Lodge (open year-round), a restaurant and cafe (open only during the winter months), a
marina, a store, a gift shop (open only during the winter months), a few houses for park rangers and a
campground. However, most of these facilities were severely damaged or destroyed in
2005 by storm surges up to 9 feet during
Hurricane Wilma. The marina and store have reopened, but are currently limited to daytime activity only. Currently there are three new plans to increase eco-tourism with improvements to Flamingo, two of which include rebuilding the destroyed facilities. All plans include keeping the historic gas station and Mission 66 visitor center facility. Also, handicap access will be added, and employee housing and backwater
chickees will be replaced in all three plans.
Flamingo is one of the interpretive centers of the
Everglades National Park. Trails such as the Snake Bight Trail, Christian Point Trail, Rowdy Bend Trail and Coastal Prairie Trail allow visitors to experience the buttonwood, mangrove and coastal prairie ecosystems. Birders will enjoy a visit to Eco Pond. This is a man-made freshwater pond. (It is part of Flamingo's sewage treatment system.) As the largest body of freshwater in the saltwater area of the Everglades, it attracts birds in abundance. Formerly surrounded by invasive non-native
Brazilian pepper bushes, the Park Service has recently done a great job in removing this alien weed and replacing it with native vegetation.
Visitors may also enjoy ranger led nature hikes, talks, "swamp tromps" where folks join rangers for a walk in the Everglades in water up to their knees, and weekend slide shows in the campground amphitheater. There are also narrated boat tours, including cruises on the beautiful schooner "the Windfall."
Canoes may be rented at the marina and a boat launch is available if you bring your own boat.
Manatees and
crocodiles are sometimes seen in the Buttonwood Canal. This is one of the few places in the United States where you can see American crocodiles. They can be distinguished from
alligators, which are common elsewhere in the park, by the narrower snout, lighter color and "toothier" grin. (Alligators are black, crocs tend to browns.) Camping is available in the large campground, although electrical hook-ups are not available. Mosquitoes can be present any time of year, but in the winter months they're not a serious problem.
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