Virginia Key

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Virginia Key Beach Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Key Beach
Location:	Miami, Florida
Added to NRHP:	June 28, 2002
NRHP Reference#:	02000681^[1]
Governing body:	Local government

Virginia Key in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, is an island lying in Biscayne Bay between Key Biscayne and Miami. It is connected to the mainland at Miami by the Rickenbacker Causeway toll road and is the site of a large sewage treatment plant and a former landfill for the City of Miami. The southern end of Virginia Key is also home to the former Virginia Key Park (for use by African-Americans when other parks were reserved for 'whites-only'), Miami Seaquarium, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine Science, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, "Hobie Beach", and several restaurants. The land area of the island is 3.493 km² (1.349 sq mi, or 863.24 acres). There is no permanent resident population, except maybe at the traditional and famous "Jimbo's" where some locals do reside.

[edit] History

What is now Virginia Key was the southern end of a barrier island that extended from the New River inlet in Fort Lauderdale to just north of Key Biscayne. Early accounts by Spanish explorers indicated the existence of one or more inlets somewhere on the long spit of land enclosing the northern end of Biscayne Bay, but such inlets open and close over time. At the beginning of the 19th century, there was no inlet through the barrier island between the New River Inlet and Bear Cut, at the northern end of Key Biscayne. Hurricanes in 1835 and 1838 opened a new inlet, Narrows Cut (now known as Norris Cut), separating Virginia Key from what is now Fisher Island at the south end of Miami Beach.^[2]^[3]

The island was named by Frederick H. Gerdes of the United States Coast Survey in 1849. He noted that the island north of Key Biscayne had no name, and had not existed as an island until 'Narrows Cut' had broken through "ten or twelve" years before (i.e, the hurricane of 1835 or 1838). He described Virginia Key as three miles long and one mile wide (later, as five miles long and one-and-a-half miles wide), with a fine Atlantic beach, but mostly covered with mangroves.^[4]

In the summer of 1945, a group of black men led by Judge Lawson E. Thomas staged a protest at the beach at Baker's Haulover County Park north of Miami Beach against the segregation laws that prohibited Blacks from using the public beaches of Miami and Dade County. In response to the protest, county officials created Virginia Key Beach Park, a public beach for the black community, which opened on August 1, 1945.^[5]

The beach at Virginia Key had been used by African Americans for at least the two previous decades. During World War II, the U.S. Navy used Virginia Key Beach for training African American & Hispanic servicemen who were not permitted to train in the waters along the “whites-only” beaches.^{[citation needed]} It was not until 1945, however, that the county began building recreational facilities there and making the beach more accessible by providing ferry boat service until the completion of the Rickenbacker Causeway in 1949 allowed access by automobile.^[6]

Virginia Key Beach Park had bathhouses, picnic pavilions, a concession stand, and a carousel and other amenities.^[6] The beach remained segregated through the 1950’s, until civil rights laws opened all the public beaches in the area. Still, through the next two decades, Virginia Key Beach remained a popular destination for many in the black community. In 1982, the area was transferred from the county to the City of Miami with the stipulation that the area be kept open and maintained as a public park and recreation area. However, the city closed Virginia Key Beach Park shortly after the transfer, citing the high cost of maintenance and operations. After nearly 20 years of non-use, the bathhouse, concessions building and other facilities had fallen into disrepair. In August 2002, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and given a Florida Historical Marker.^[7] The Dade Community Foundation established the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust Fund in 2003 to restore and preserve the park.^[8]

On February 22, 2008 Virginia Key Beach Park was reopened to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony after extensive renovations. The park is open daily, and facilities such as the bathhouse and concession stand are fully operational. A replica of the original mini-train has been obtained by the park, and the track is about 90 percent restored as of June 1, 2008.

Miami Marine Stadium located in the center of the strip of land northeast of the Rickenbacker Causeway, was built in 1963 by the city. It was used to watch boat races, concerts and fireworks displays before closing in 1992 after being damaged by Hurricane Andrew.

[edit] Special features

The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is one of the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA/AOML is a part of the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and is located in Miami, Florida. AOML's mission is to conduct basic and applied research in oceanography, tropical meteorology, atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, and acoustics. The research seeks to understand the physical characteristics and processes of the ocean and the atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system.

Along the causeway onto Virginia Key is a long strip of bay front popular with windsurfers and sailors, called Hobie Beach after the Hobie Cats that set sail from the shore. It's also the only Miami-area beach that allows dogs. Nearby rest rooms and a great view of the curving shoreline make this an ideal place for tailgate parties.

The Miami Seaquarium is a marine park on Virginia Key that has one of the world's largest collections of marine animals; some 10,000 specimens. Open in 1955, the 38 acre (150,000 m²) park provides marine life exhibits and several daily marine mammal shows. It is famous for its captive orcas, dolphins, and sea lions. Manatee and shark exhibits are also present.

The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, founded by F.G. Walton Smith, is the University of Miami's graduate school of marine and atmospheric science. Dr. Otis Brown is the Dean of the Rosenstiel School. Located on a 16 acre (65,000 m²) campus on Virginia Key in Miami, it is the only tropical applied and basic marine and atmospheric research institute of its kind in the continental United States. The Rosenstiel School conducts a broad range of research on local, regional, national and global levels. More than 100 Ph.D. faculty members, 150 graduate students and a research support and administrative staff of 250 comprise the academic community.

The Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy public magnet school is located on Virginia Key. Several hundred high school specially-selected students from Miami get their education at MAST Academy.