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124-531: Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area occupies approximately the southern third of the island of Key Biscayne , at coordinates 25°40′25″N 80°09′34″W  /  25.67361°N 80.15944°W  / 25.67361; -80.15944 . This park includes the Cape Florida Light , the oldest standing structure in Greater Miami . In 2005, it was ranked as having the 8th best beach in

248-589: A History of the Freshwater Fish of Central Europe . In 1839, however, the first part of the publication appeared, and it was completed in 1842. In November 1832, Agassiz was appointed professor of natural history at the University of Neuchâtel , at a salary of about US$ 400 and declined brilliant offers in Paris because of the leisure for private study that that position afforded him. The fossil fish in

372-632: A benefactor to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts . Pauline Agassiz Shaw later became a prominent educator, suffragist, and philanthropist. In the last years of his life, Agassiz worked to establish a permanent school in which zoological science could be pursued amid the living subjects of its study. In 1873, the private philanthropist John Anderson gave Agassiz the island of Penikese , in Buzzards Bay , Massachusetts (south of New Bedford ), and presented him with $ 50,000 to endow it permanently as

496-481: A catalog of papers in his field, Bibliographia Zoologiae et Geologiae , in four volumes between 1848 and 1854. Stricken by ill health in the 1860s, Agassiz resolved to return to the field for relaxation and to resume his studies of Brazilian fish. In April 1865, he led the Thayer Expedition to Brazil. While there, he commissioned two photographers, Augusto Stahl and Georges Leuzinger , to accompany

620-915: A course of lectures on "The Plan of Creation as shown in the Animal Kingdom" by invitation from John Amory Lowell , at the Lowell Institute in Boston , Massachusetts . The financial offers that were presented to him in the United States induced him to settle there, where he remained to the end of his life. He was elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1846. In 1846, still married to Cecilie, who remained with their three children in Switzerland, Agassiz met Elizabeth Cabot Cary at

744-713: A datum base for a survey of the Florida Keys and the Great Florida Reef. To learn more about the Great Florida Reef, Alexander Bache invited Louis Agassiz to study it. The U.S. Coast Survey sent Agassiz to Key Biscayne in 1851. He wrote a detailed report for Bache on the reefs stretching from Key Biscayne to the Marquesas Keys. The triangulation survey was conducted by the United States Coast Survey with men detailed from

868-458: A dinner. The two developed a romantic attachment, and when his wife died in 1848, they made plans to marry. The ceremony took place on April 25, 1850, in Boston, Massachusetts at King's Chapel . Agassiz brought his children to live with them, and Elizabeth raised and developed close relationships with her step-children. She had no children of her own. Agassiz had a mostly cordial relationship with

992-545: A focus of Agassiz's life's work. In 1819 to 1820, the German biologists Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius undertook an expedition to Brazil . They returned home to Europe with many natural objects, including an important collection of the freshwater fish of Brazil, especially of the Amazon River . Spix, who died in 1826, likely from a tropical disease, did not live long enough to work out

1116-457: A hectare) of bananas . By 1898, a great variety of tropical fruit trees had been planted on the island. Davis also had a large dwelling built for his use. It was a two-story cottage with five bedrooms and verandas on three sides, raised ten feet above the ground on pilings to protect against storm surges. In the late 1890s, Davis hired Ralph Munroe to oversee his Key Biscayne property. Munroe had begun visiting Biscayne Bay in 1877. He soon built

1240-799: A home, the Barnacle , on land on the mainland in Coconut Grove that he bought from John Frow, keeper of the Cape Florida Light and Fowey Rocks Light. Munroe engaged in wrecking in the waters around Key Biscayne, built sailboats, worked as a pilot for the Cape Florida Channel and opened a pineapple cannery , to which Davis sent his pineapples. Before mail service to the Miami area improved, Munroe would camp out on Key Biscayne every Tuesday evening so that he could sail out to

1364-618: A land developer unrelated to Waters Davis, to develop and re-sell the northern half of Key Biscayne, including all of what is now Crandon Park and about half the present Village of Key Biscayne. Davis had experience with turning submerged or partially submerged land into prime real estate, having created the Davis Islands in Tampa and Davis Shores near St. Augustine. Later in 1926, the City of Coral Gables incorporated with Key Biscayne, which

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1488-493: A natural harbor in the park, is used for anchorage. Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays). Key Biscayne (island) The northern portion of Key Biscayne is home to Crandon Park , a county park. The middle section of the island consists of the incorporated Village of Key Biscayne . The southern part of the island is now protected as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park , adjacent to Biscayne National Park , one of

1612-590: A new ichthyological classification. The fossils that he examined rarely showed any traces of the soft tissues of fish but instead, consisted chiefly of the teeth, scales, and fins, with the bones being perfectly preserved in comparatively few instances. He therefore adopted a classification that divided fish into four groups (ganoids, placoids, cycloids, and ctenoids), based on the nature of the scales and other dermal appendages. That did much to improve fish taxonomy , but Agassiz's classification has since been superseded. With Louis de Coulon, both father and son, he founded

1736-703: A past ice age . He presented the theory to the Helvetic Society that ancient glaciers flowed outward from the Alps, and even larger glaciers had covered the plains and mountains of Europe, Asia, and North America and smothered the entire Northern Hemisphere in a prolonged ice age. In the same year, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . Before that proposal, Goethe , de Saussure , Ignaz Venetz, Jean de Charpentier, Karl Friedrich Schimper , and others had studied

1860-708: A practical school of natural science that would be especially devoted to the study of marine zoology. The school collapsed soon after Agassiz's death but is considered to be a precursor of the nearby Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory . Agassiz had a profound influence on the American branches of his two fields and taught many future scientists who would go on to prominence, including Alpheus Hyatt , David Starr Jordan , Joel Asaph Allen , Joseph Le Conte , Ernest Ingersoll , William James , Charles Sanders Peirce , Nathaniel Shaler , Samuel Hubbard Scudder , Alpheus Packard , and his son Alexander Emanuel Agassiz . He had

1984-512: A profound impact on the paleontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott and the natural scientist Edward S. Morse . Agassiz had a reputation for being a demanding teacher. He would allegedly "lock a student up in a room full of turtle-shells, or lobster-shells, or oyster-shells, without a book or a word to help him, and not let him out till he had discovered all the truths which the objects contained." Two of Agassiz's most prominent students detailed their personal experiences under his tutelage: Scudder, in

2108-557: A promontorium on the moon are also named in his honor. Cape Agassiz , a headland situated in Palmer Land , Antarctica , is named in his honor. A main-belt asteroid , 2267 Agassiz , is also named in association with him. Several animal species are named in honor of him, including and the most well-known, In 2005, the European Geosciences Union Division on Cryospheric Sciences established

2232-496: A proposal to develop Virginia Key as an air base and sea port. There was talk of putting an air base on the north end of Key Biscayne. In 1940, William Matheson's heirs donated 808.8 acres (327.3 ha) of land, including two miles (3.2 km) of beach on the Atlantic Ocean, on the northern end of Key Biscayne to Dade County to be used as a public park, later named Crandon Park . The county commissioner who negotiated

2356-648: A second in which Harney escaped in only his shirt and drawers from an early morning attack (the Harney Massacre ) on his camp led by Chief Chakaika . In light of these experiences, Harney instituted an intensive training program in swamp and jungle warfare for his men. After Chakaika led the raid on Indian Key in August 1840, Harney set out into the Everglades after Chakaika, and killed him in his own camp. The war quieted down after that, with active pursuit of

2480-442: A short magazine article for Every Saturday , and Shaler , in his Autobiography . Those and other recollections were collected and published by Lane Cooper in 1917, which Ezra Pound would draw on for his anecdote of Agassiz and the sunfish . In the early 1840s, Agassiz named two fossil fish species after Mary Anning ( Acrodus anningiae and Belenostomus anningiae ) and another after her friend, Elizabeth Philpot . Anning

2604-665: A short period before the Cape Florida lighthouse was built in 1825, an estimated 300 Black Seminoles found passage from Key Biscayne to Andros Island in the Bahamas on seagoing canoes and Bahamian boats, settling at Red Bays and Nicholls Town . Although Key Biscayne was less suitable as a departure point after the lighthouse was built, the Bahamas remained a haven for escaping slaves. In 1824 Mary Ann Channer Davis, who had moved to St. Augustine with her husband in 1821, bought

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2728-570: A total of 6.84 acres (2.77 ha) of land, a record price per acre for the auction of U.S. government land up to that date. On September 18, 1926, the Great Miami Hurricane crossed over Key Biscayne on its way to Miami. Although there were no deaths on the island, most of the buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. Many of the plantings were lost, including half of the coconut trees. The Mathesons rushed to restore their plantation, replanting and buying new equipment to replace what

2852-685: A total of US$ 1.00 (20 cents per annum) to the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club for use as its headquarters. It was listed as the southernmost yacht club in the United States, and the tallest in the world. After the lease expired, the yacht club moved to Coconut Grove , where it continues. In 1898, in response to the growing tension with Spain over Cuba , which led to the Spanish–American War , the Cape Florida lighthouse

2976-776: A two-year effort on the part of neighborhood residents, the Cambridge City Council voted unanimously to change the name to the Baldwin Neighborhood. An elementary school, the Agassiz Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota , existed from 1922 to 1981. An ancient glacial lake that formed in central North America, Lake Agassiz , is named after him, as are Mount Agassiz in California's Palisades , Mount Agassiz in

3100-461: Is a boulder from a glacial moraine of the Aar near the site of the old Hôtel des Neuchâtelois , not far from the spot where his hut once stood. His grave is sheltered by pine trees from his old home in Switzerland. The Cambridge elementary school north of Harvard University was named in his honor, and the surrounding neighborhood became known as " Agassiz " as a result. The school's name was changed to

3224-509: Is better than a hypothesis that is difficult to test. Agassiz had a close association with his student and field assistant, the geologist Charles Hartt who eventually refuted Agassiz's theories about the Amazon based on his fieldwork there. Instead of evidence for any glacial processes, he found chemically weathered sediments from marine and tropical fluvial, not glacial, processes, a finding that later geologists confirmed. Agassiz hypothesis that

3348-506: Is located at 25°41′25″N 80°9′54″W  /  25.69028°N 80.16500°W  / 25.69028; -80.16500 (25.690329, -80.165118). The first known indigenous inhabitants of Key Biscayne were Tequestas . Shells, bones and artifacts found on the island indicate extensive use of it by the Tequesta. A large community appeared to inhabit the island between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew scoured much of

3472-461: Is particularly known for his contributions to ichthyological classification, including of extinct species such as megalodon , and to the study of historical geology , including the founding of glaciology . His theories on human, animal and plant polygenism have been criticised as implicitly supporting scientific racism . Louis Agassiz was born in the village of Môtier ( fr ) (now part of Haut-Vully which merged into Mont-Vully in 2016) in

3596-411: Is possible. Besides the beach and tours of the lighthouse and keeper's quarters, activities include boating , canoeing , kayaking and fishing from the seawall along Biscayne Bay , bicycling , hiking and wildlife viewing. The park has such amenities as picnicking areas and youth camping . It also has a visitor center , a museum with interpretive exhibits and concessions . No Name Harbor ,

3720-584: The Aar Glaciers and for a time made it his home to investigate the structure and movements of the ice. Agassiz visited England, and with William Buckland , the only English naturalist who shared his ideas, made a tour of the British Isles in search of glacial phenomena, and became satisfied that his theory of an ice age was correct. In 1840, Agassiz published a two-volume work, Études sur les glaciers ("Studies on Glaciers"). In it, he discussed

3844-572: The Bahamas , settling mostly on Andros Island . In the early 1820s, some 300 American slaves reached the Bahamas, aboard 27 sloops and many canoes. The US National Park Service is working with the Bahamas, particularly the African Bahamanian Museum and Research Center (ABAC) in Nassau, to develop interpretive programs at Red Bays, Andros. The park has more than a mile of sandy Atlantic beachfront, where snorkeling and swimming

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3968-553: The Dry Tortugas was a cause for concern. Between the late 1840s and the late 1850s, more than 500 ships were wrecked on the Florida Reef . The Assistant United States Coast Surveyor reported that in the period from 1845 through 1849, almost one million (United States) dollars worth of vessels and cargoes were lost on the reef. In 1846, the U.S. Congress appropriated $ 23,000 to rebuild the Cape Florida lighthouse and work

4092-570: The First Seminole War and a treaty with Spain, Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821. Under pressure from US settlers, Seminole and Black Seminoles began to migrate into central and southern Florida. In the early 19th century, African-American slaves and Black Seminoles escaped to the Bahamas from Cape Florida to evade American slaver catchers . In 1820, one traveler reported seeing 60 "Indians", 60 "runaway slaves", and 27 boats of Bahamian wreckers preparing to leave Cape Florida. In

4216-607: The Florida Keys , but is a barrier island composed of sand eroded from the Appalachian Mountains , carried to the coast by rivers and then moved along the coast from the north by coastal currents. The eastern edge of Key Biscayne is underlain by the Key Largo Limestone , a fossilized ancient reef that is exposed in the upper and middle Florida Keys. Elsewhere, there is no hard bedrock near

4340-970: The Magellan Strait , which drew the praise of Charles Darwin . Following the establishment of the first U.S. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City in 1866, Agassiz was called on to help settle disputes about animal behavior. He deemed the way turtles were shipped caused them suffering, while P.T. Barnum argued with Agassiz' support that his snakes would eat only live animals. His second wife, Elizabeth Cary Agassiz , assisted him in preparing his A Journey in Brazil . Along with her stepson, Alexander Agassiz , she wrote Seaside Studies in Natural History and Marine Animals of Massachusetts . Elizabeth wrote at

4464-566: The Societé des Sciences Naturelles , of which he was the first secretary and in conjunction with the Coulons also arranged a provisional museum of natural history in the orphan's home. Agassiz needed financial support to continue his work. The British Association and the Earl of Ellesmere , then Lord Francis Egerton , stepped in to help. The 1290 original drawings made for the work were purchased by

4588-986: The Uinta Mountains of Utah, Agassiz Peak in Arizona, Agassiz Rock in Massachusetts, and the Agassizhorn in the Bernese Alps in his native Switzerland. Agassiz Glacier in Montana, Agassiz Creek in Glacier National Park , Agassiz Glacier in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska, and Mount Agassiz in the White Mountains of New Hampshire also bear his name. A crater on Mars , Crater Agassiz , and

4712-450: The United States in 1847 after visiting Harvard University . He went on to become professor of zoology and geology at Harvard, to head its Lawrence Scientific School , and to found its Museum of Comparative Zoology . Agassiz is known for observational data gathering and analysis. He made institutional and scientific contributions to zoology, geology, and related areas, including multivolume research books running to thousands of pages. He

4836-488: The glaciers of the Alps, and Goethe, Charpentier, and Schimper had even concluded that the erratic blocks of alpine rocks scattered over the slopes and summits of the Jura Mountains had been moved there by glaciers. Those ideas attracted the attention of Agassiz, and he discussed them with Charpentier and Schimper, whom he accompanied on successive trips to the Alps. Agassiz even had a hut constructed upon one of

4960-416: The sea level stopped rising, as the sand built up to form new barrier islands on the southern Florida coast. Key Biscayne is elongated in the north–south direction, tapering to a point at each end. It is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) long and 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km) wide. The northern end of the island is separated from another barrier island, Virginia Key , by Bear Cut. The southern end of

5084-491: The 1830s, likely grown from coconuts sent from Mexico by Henry Perrine to the first lighthouse keeper, John Dubose. In the 1880s, Ezra Asher Osborn and Elnathan T. Field of New Jersey started an enterprise to develop the Florida coast from Key Biscayne to Jupiter by clearing native vegetation, leveling Indian midden mounds and beach dunes , and planting coconuts. Osborn and Field imported 300,000 unhusked coconuts from

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5208-586: The Amazon was affected by the Last Glacial Maximum was correct, although the mechanism causing the effect was non-glacial. The Amazon rainforest was split into two large blocks by extensive savanna during the LGM. With the aid of a grant of money from the king of Prussia , Agassiz crossed the Atlantic in the autumn of 1846 to investigate the natural history and geology of North America and to deliver

5332-466: The Animal Kingdom , Ichthyology, and Comparative Embryology" as a part of the Lowell Lecture series. These lectures were widely attended with up to 5,000 people in attendance on some nights. It was during these lectures that Agassiz announced for the first time that black and white people had different origins but were part of the same species. Agassiz repeated this lecture 10 months later to

5456-488: The Cape Florida lighthouse for a park in 1964. Bill Baggs , editor of The Miami News , campaigned for all the Cape Florida property to be preserved in a park. U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall inspected the property and recommended that it be preserved, although not with Federal funds. Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( / ˈ æ ɡ ə s i / AG -ə-see ; French: [aɡasi] ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873)

5580-563: The Caribbean, of which 76,000 were planted on Key Biscayne. Most of the shoots from the coconuts on Key Biscayne were eaten by rats and marsh rabbits ( Sylvilagus palustris ). As a result of their efforts, in 1885 Osborn and Field were allowed to purchase Key Biscayne and other oceanfront land from the Florida Internal Improvement Trust Fund for 70 cents an acre. Mary Ann Davis, who had bought

5704-557: The Charleston Literary Club but changed his original stance, claiming that black people were physiologically and anatomically a distinct species. Agassiz believed that humans did not descend from one single common ancestor. He believed that like plants and animals, various regions have differentiated species of humans . He considered this hypothesis testable, and matched to the available evidence. He also indicated that there were obvious geographical barriers that were

5828-489: The Davis holdings, all the way to Bear Cut, over 1,700 (about 690 hectares) acres. Matheson created a plantation community, employing 42 workers by 1915, and 60 later. It included housing for the workers and their families, packing houses, docks, a school, a big barn, windmills, and 15 miles (24 km) of (unpaved) roads. The plantation had 36,000 coconut trees, and a variety of other tropical fruits. In 1921 Matheson introduced

5952-647: The Earl and presented by him to the Geological Society of London . In 1836, the Wollaston Medal was awarded to Agassiz by the council of that society for his work on fossil ichthyology. In 1838, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society . Meanwhile, invertebrate animals engaged his attention. In 1837, he issued the "Prodrome" of a monograph on the recent and fossil Echinodermata ,

6076-801: The Florida Internal Improvement Fund. Davis received quitclaims from Osborn and Field, and on the Harney lots, but was unable to settle with Sanchez. He finally received a patent from the United States government for his land in 1898. In 1903 Davis bought the abandoned Cape Florida lighthouse from the United States Treasury for US$ 400. Davis started a pineapple plantation on Key Biscayne; six acres (two-and-a-half hectares) had been cleared and planted in pineapples in 1893–94. Davis also directed his caretaker to plant one-half to one acre (two-tenths to four-tenths of

6200-475: The Fornells claim to Key Biscayne from one of the Fornells' heirs for US$ 100. Mary and her husband William Davis, a deputy U.S. Marshal , probably were aware of plans to build a lighthouse on the Florida coast somewhere between St. Augustine and Key West , and knew that Key Biscayne was a likely location for it. Mary and William sold three acres (about one-and-a-quarter hectares) of their newly acquired land at

6324-477: The Fornells grant on Key Biscayne in 1821, died in Galveston, Texas in 1885. Her son Waters Smith Davis began taking steps to assert the family title to the island. In 1887 he purchased the rights of the other Davis heirs and received a new deed in his name. He could not get a clear title, however. Venancio Sanchez still claimed a half share of the Fornells Grant, two of the town lots had been sold to William Harney around 1840, and Osborne and Field had their deed from

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6448-444: The Harvard botanist Asa Gray despite their disagreements. Agassiz believed each human race had been separately created, but Gray, a supporter of Charles Darwin , believed in the shared evolutionary ancestry of all humans. In addition, Agassiz was a member of the Scientific Lazzaroni , a group of mostly physical scientists who wanted American academia to mimic the more autocratic academic structures of European universities, but Gray

6572-572: The Ice Period" (1864–1865), "Brazil" (1866–1867), and "Deep Sea Dredging " (1869–1870). In 1850, he had married Elizabeth Cabot Cary, who later wrote introductory books about natural history and a lengthy biography of her husband after he had died. Agassiz served as a nonresident lecturer at Cornell University while he was also on faculty at Harvard. In 1852, he accepted a medical professorship of comparative anatomy at Charlestown, Massachusetts , but he resigned in two years. From then on, Agassiz's scientific studies dropped off, but he became one of

6696-408: The Louis Agassiz Medal, awarded to individuals in recognition of their outstanding scientific contribution to the study of the cryosphere on Earth or elsewhere in the solar system. Agassiz took part in a monthly gathering called the Saturday Club at the Parker House , a meeting of Boston writers and intellectuals. He was therefore mentioned in a stanza of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. poem " At

6820-408: The Malay Dwarf coconut to the United States. This is now the most common variety of coconut found in Florida, after lethal yellowing killed off most of the Jamaican Tall coconut trees and many other varieties. The Matheson coconut plantation was at least twice as large as any other in the United States. By 1933, the world price for coconut products had dropped to about two-fifths of its 1925 level, and

6944-458: The Maria L. Baldwin School on May 21, 2002, because of concerns about Agassiz's involvement in scientific racism and to honor Maria Louise Baldwin , the African-American principal of the school, who served from 1889 to 1922. The neighborhood, however, continued to be known as Agassiz. c.  2009 , neighborhood residents decided to rename the neighborhood's community council as the "Agassiz-Baldwin Community". Then, in July 2021, culminating

7068-479: The Old Red Sandstone, or Devonian System of the British Isles and of Russia ). In the early stages of his career in Neuchatel, Agassiz also made a name for himself as a man who could run a scientific department well. Under his care, the University of Neuchâtel soon became a leading institution for scientific inquiry. In 1842 to 1846, Agassiz issued his Nomenclator Zoologicus , a classification list with references of all names used in zoological genera and groups. He

7192-410: The Safety Valve and existing small keys to Elliott Key and on to Key Largo. Áleman was expected to donate the right-of-way for a road running down the middle of the island to the first bridge at Cape Florida. With the prospect of a major highway passing through his property, Áleman rushed to prepare it for development: he had it completely cleared, leveled and filled in. A seawall was constructed along

7316-404: The Saturday Club :" There, at the table's further end I see In his old place our Poet's vis-à-vis, The great PROFESSOR, strong, broad-shouldered, square, In life's rich noontide, joyous, debonair ... How will her realm be darkened, losing thee, Her darling, whom we call our AGASSIZ! In 1850, Agassiz commissioned daguerreotypes , which were described as "haunting and voyeuristic" of

7440-429: The Seminoles ending in 1842, although some of the Seminoles remained hidden in the Everglades. While the war against the Seminoles continued, Mary and William Davis made plans to develop a town on Key Biscayne. They had a town plan printed in Philadelphia . The island was touted as an ideal destination "for the recovery of the health". When Indian Key had been named the seat for the newly created Dade County in 1836,

7564-457: The Strait that "the Hassler pursued her course, past a seemingly endless panorama of mountains and forests rising into the pale regions of snow and ice, where lay glaciers in which every rift and crevasse, as well as the many cascades flowing down to join the waters beneath, could be counted as she steamed by them.... These were weeks of exquisite delight to Agassiz. The vessel often skirted the shore so closely that its geology could be studied from

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7688-521: The Swiss Canton of Fribourg . He was the son of a pastor, Louis Rudolphe and his wife, Rose Mayor. His father was a Protestant clergyman, as had been his progenitors for six generations, and his mother was the daughter of a physician and an intellectual in her own right, who had assisted her husband in the education of her boys. He was educated at home until he spent four years at secondary school in Bienne , which he entered in 1818 and completed his elementary studies in Lausanne . Agassiz studied at

7812-446: The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. Approximately forty men were based at Cape Florida working on the survey when Alexander Dallas Bache , Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, went to Key Biscayne in 1855 to take charge of it. The survey eventually covered Key Biscayne, Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys from south of Key Biscayne to the Marquesas Keys , and Florida Bay from the Keys to Cape Sable . In 1861, Confederate militants sabotaged

7936-520: The U.S. government seeking specifications and guidelines for the lighthouse. Government officials were taken aback by the request, wondering how a federal lighthouse could have passed into private hands. An Act of Congress and two Executive Orders, in 1847 and 1897, had reserved the island for the federal lighthouse and for military purposes. Patient legal work eventually convinced the U.S. Congress and President Woodrow Wilson to agree to recognize Matheson's and Deering's ownership of Key Biscayne. In 1920,

8060-512: The Universities of Zürich , Heidelberg and Munich . At the last one, he extended his knowledge of natural history , especially of botany . In 1829, he received the degree of doctor of philosophy at Erlangen and, in 1830, that of doctor of medicine at Munich. Moving to Paris, he came under the tutelage of Alexander von Humboldt and later received his financial benevolence. Humboldt and Georges Cuvier launched him on his careers of respectively geology and zoology. Ichthyology soon became

8184-413: The best-known scientists in the world. By 1857, Agassiz was so well-loved that his friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz" in his honor and read it at a dinner given for Agassiz by the Saturday Club in Cambridge . Agassiz's own writing continued with four (of a planned 10) volumes of Natural History of the United States , published from 1857 to 1862. He also published

8308-505: The canal was developed as part of the present-day Village of Key Biscayne. Garcia sold the Cape Florida property in 1957 for US$ 9.5 million, but the buyer defaulted and died the next year. Garcia sold the property again, for US$ 13 million. Development started on a model community' of luxury homes and resort properties. By 1962 the new developers were in financial trouble, and the property reverted again to Garcia in 1963. Dade County began considering purchase of 50 acres (200,000 m ) around

8432-411: The city after the Spanish regained Florida in 1783. Fornells received a Royal Grant for 175 acres (71 ha) on the southern end of Key Biscayne in 1805. The grant required Fornells to live on the island and establish cultivation within six months. He moved his household to the island, but after six months, the family returned to St. Augustine, leaving a caretaker named Vincent on the island. Following

8556-497: The country, and in 2013 Forbes ranked it at 7th. The park was named in honor of Bill Baggs , editor of The Miami News from 1957 until his death in 1969. He worked to protect the land from development and to preserve some of the key in its natural state. In 2004 a large historical marker was erected at the site to mark it as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Trail, as hundreds of Black Seminoles , many fugitive slaves, escaped from here to freedom in

8680-409: The county provided that the county court would meet annually on Key Biscayne. In late 1839 the United States Postmaster General approved a post office for Key Biscayne. The first two lots of the new town were sold to Lt. Col. Harney for a total of US$ 1,000. There is no evidence that the post office ever opened; in 1842 the Postmaster General noted that the appointed postmaster had not completed any of

8804-425: The deck." From his first marriage to Cecilie Braun, Agassiz had two daughters, Ida and Pauline , and a son, Alexander . In 1863, Agassiz's daughter Ida married Henry Lee Higginson , who later founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was a benefactor to Harvard and other schools. On November 30, 1860, Agassiz's daughter Pauline was married to Quincy Adams Shaw (1825–1908), a wealthy Boston merchant and later

8928-410: The deepest natural channels into Biscayne Bay. They provided the only access for ocean-going vessels to Biscayne Bay until artificial channels were dredged starting early in the 20th century. In 1849 the island had a fine sandy beach on the east side, and mangroves and lagoons on the west side. The average elevation of the island is less than five feet (1.5 m) above sea level . Key Biscayne

9052-639: The edge of the Gulf Stream early Wednesday morning to retrieve a package of newspapers and magazines dropped for him in waterproof pouches by a passing steamship. Munroe was also one of the founding members of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. In 1896, Henry Morrison Flagler brought the Florida East Coast Railway to Miami. Mary Ann and William Davis had dreamed of building a city on Key Biscayne. Now their son Waters

9176-898: The effect of the last ice age in North America. In August 1857, Agassiz was offered the chair of palaeontology in the Museum of Natural History, Paris , which he refused. He was later decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor . Agassiz continued his lectures for the Lowell Institute. In succeeding years, he gave lectures on "Ichthyology" (1847–1848), "Comparative Embryology" (1848–1849), "Functions of Life in Lower Animals" (1850–1851), "Natural History" (1853–1854), "Methods of Study in Natural History" (1861–1862), "Glaciers and

9300-627: The enslaved Renty Taylor and Taylor's daughter, Delia, to further his arguments about black inferiority. They are the earliest known photographs of enslaved persons. Agassiz left the images to Harvard, and they remained in the Peabody Museum's attic until 1976, when they were rediscovered by Ellie Reichlin, a former staff member. The 15 daguerrotypes were in a case with the embossing "J. T. Zealy, Photographer, Columbia," with several handwritten labels, which helped in later identification. Reichlin spent months doing research to try to identify

9424-550: The expedition and produce somatological images of Indigenous people and enslaved Africans and Black people. After his return in August 1866, an account of the expedition, A Journey in Brazil , was published in 1868. In December 1871, he made a second eight-month excursion, known as the Hassler expedition under the command of Commander Philip Carrigan Johnson (the brother of Eastman Johnson ) and visited South America on its southern Atlantic and Pacific Seaboards. The ship explored

9548-481: The first part of which appeared in 1838; in 1839–1840, he published two quarto volumes on the fossil echinoderms of Switzerland; and in 1840–1845, he issued his Études critiques sur les mollusques fossiles ( Critical Studies on Fossil Mollusks ). Before Agassiz's first visit to England in 1834, Hugh Miller and other geologists had brought to light the remarkable fossil fish of the Old Red Sandstone of

9672-421: The gift, Charles H. Crandon, had offered to have the county build a causeway to Key Biscayne in exchange for the land donation. As planning for the air and sea complex on Virginia Key was proceeding, construction on a causeway to Virginia Key started in 1941. The Attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II stopped all work on the causeway and the development of Virginia Key. After

9796-608: The heirs of Venancio Sanchez filed a lawsuit against James Deering, claiming an undivided half interest in his Cape Florida property. This brought development of the resort on Cape Florida to a halt. After many legal battles, the suit was finally decided in Deering's favor by the United States Supreme Court in 1926. The decision came too late for Deering; he had died the previous year. In February 1926, William Matheson entered into an agreement with D. P. Davis,

9920-547: The higher Alps and extending over the valley of northwestern Switzerland to the southern slopes of the Jura. The publication of the work gave fresh impetus to the study of glacial phenomena in all parts of the world. Familiar then with recent glaciation, Agassiz and the English geologist William Buckland visited the mountains of Scotland in 1840. There, they found clear evidence in different locations of glacial action. The discovery

10044-526: The history of those fish, and Martius selected Agassiz for this project. Agassiz threw himself into the work with an enthusiasm that would go on to characterize the rest of his life's work. The task of describing the Brazilian fish was completed and published in 1829. It was followed by research into the history of fish found in Lake Neuchâtel . Enlarging his plans, he in 1830 issued a prospectus of

10168-413: The hospital treated 103 patients, including 23 for fever and 26 for dysentery . Dysentery was the leading cause of death at the fort, followed by malaria , tuberculosis , gunshot wounds and alcoholism . Colonel Bankhead was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney in 1839. Colonel Harney had two earlier encounters with Seminoles, the first a battle in which Chief Arpeika eluded capture, and

10292-549: The island (Biscayne Bay) Chequescha , a variant form of Tequesta. The next European known to have visited the Key Biscayne area was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés . In 1565 his ship took refuge in Biscayne Bay from a storm. Relations were established with the Tequesta, and in 1567 a mission was established on the mainland across the bay from Key Biscayne. The mission was abandoned three years later in 1570. No other mission

10416-437: The island as a tropical resort. He felt that Cape Florida's "future lies in making sales for homes." To prepare, the land was cleared, with marshes and mangroves were filled in. Jetties were built on the ocean side, in the belief that they would protect the beaches from erosion. They have been found to aggravate erosion. Waters Davis stipulated in his sale to Deering that the Cape Florida lighthouse be restored. Deering wrote to

10540-693: The island is Cape Florida. The Cape Florida Channel separates the island from the Safety Valve , an expanse of shallow flats cut by tidal channels that extends southward about 9 miles (14 km) to the Ragged Keys , at the northern end of the Florida Keys. Only Soldier Key , approximately 200 by 100 yards (183 by 91 m) wide, lies between Key Biscayne and the Ragged Keys. The Cape Florida Channel, 10 to 11 feet (3.0 to 3.4 m) deep in 1849, and Bear Cut, 4 feet (1.2 m) deep in 1849, are

10664-520: The island. In 1835 a major hurricane struck the island, damaging the lighthouse and the keeper's house, and putting the island under three feet of water, which killed almost all the plants that Dr. Perrine had sent from Mexico. In 1836, during the Second Seminole War , Seminoles attacked and burned the Cape Florida lighthouse, severely wounding the assistant lighthouse keeper in charge; his black assistant died of wounds. The lighthouse

10788-494: The island. The Davises had hoped that a restored lighthouse would be the centerpiece of their town, but all attempts to repair the lighthouse failed while the war was on. Shortly after the end of the war, the Davises gave up on Key Biscayne and moved to Texas . Their older son Edmund J. Davis eventually was elected as governor there. The numerous ship wrecks that occurred along the southeast coast of Florida from Key Biscayne to

10912-598: The lighthouse so that it could not guide Union sailors during the blockade of Confederate Florida . The lighthouse was repaired and re-lit again in 1866. In 1878 the Cape Florida Light was replaced by the Fowey Rocks Light , seven miles (11 km) southeast of Cape Florida. From 1888 to 1893, the Cape Florida lighthouse was leased by the United States Secretary of the Treasury for

11036-464: The lighthouse was burned in 1836. The family was also accompanied by two former slaves of Margaret's brother. The Dubose household grew during that time and was reported in 1833 to consist of "eleven whites and several negroes". During his tenure as lighthouse keeper, Dubose received hundreds of plants and seeds from Dr. Henry Perrine , United States Consul in Campeche , Mexico , which he planted on

11160-582: The movements of the glaciers, their moraines , and their influence in grooving and rounding the rocks and in producing the striations and roches moutonnées seen in Alpine-style landscapes. He accepted Charpentier and Schimper's idea that some of the alpine glaciers had extended across the wide plains and valleys of the Aar and Rhône , but he went further by concluding that in the recent past, Switzerland had been covered with one vast sheet of ice originating in

11284-424: The northeast of Scotland. The strange forms of Pterichthys , Coccosteus , and other genera were then made known to geologists for the first time. They were of intense interest to Agassiz and formed the subject of a monograph by him published in 1844–1(45: Monographie des poissons fossiles du Vieux Grès Rouge, ou Système Dévonien (Old Red Sandstone) des Îles Britanniques et de Russie ( Monograph on Fossil Fish of

11408-642: The overall average down. Oppositely, he included Peruvian skull measurements alongside Native American calculations even though the Peruvian numbers lowered the average score. Despite Morton's unsound methods, his published work on cranial capacities across races was deemed authoritative in the United States and Europe. Morton is a primary influence on Agassiz's belief in polygenism. John Amory Lowell invited Agassiz to present twelve lectures in December 1846 on three subjects titled " The Plan of Creation as shown in

11532-484: The people in the photos, but Harvard University did not make efforts to contact the families and licensed the photos for use. In 2011, Tamara Lanier wrote a letter to the president of Harvard that identified herself as a direct descendant of the Taylors and asked the university to turn over the photos to her. In 2019, Taylor's descendants sued Harvard for the return of the images and unspecified damages. The lawsuit

11656-548: The plantation stopped shipping. Waters Davis decided to sell his Key Biscayne property in 1913 (he died the following year). He appointed Ralph Munroe to act as his broker. Although Matheson bid on the property, Munroe arranged a sale, for US$ 20,000, to James Deering , the International Harvester heir and owner of the Villa Vizcaya estate in Miami. In 1914 Deering decided to develop his new land on

11780-547: The principal museums in Europe. Meeting Cuvier in Paris, he received much encouragement and assistance from him. In 1833, he married Cecile Braun, the sister of his friend Alexander Braun and established his household at Neuchâtel . Trained to scientific drawing by her brothers, his wife was of the greatest assistance to Agassiz, with some of the most beautiful plates in fossil and freshwater fishes being drawn by her. Agassiz found that his palaeontological analyses required

11904-516: The requirements for opening the post office. No further sales of town lots were made after Harney's purchase. A complication arose when Venancio Sanchez of St. Augustine purchased for US$ 400 a half share in the old Fornells grant from another surviving heir, who lived in Havana . A feud quickly developed between Sanchez and the Davises, with Sanchez demanding a division of the property, and the Davises refusing to acknowledge that Sanchez had any claim to

12028-577: The rock of the surrounding region, the slates of Glarus and the limestones of Monte Bolca , soon attracted his attention. At the time, very little had been accomplished in their scientific study. Agassiz as early as 1829, planned the publication of a work. More than any other, it would lay the foundation of his worldwide fame. Five volumes of his Recherches sur les poissons fossiles ( Research on Fossil Fish ) were published from 1833 to 1843. They were magnificently illustrated, chiefly by Joseph Dinkel . In gathering materials for that work, Agassiz visited

12152-454: The south end of the island eroded. It could be seen at low tide as late as 1913. In 1988 the Cape Florida base marker was recovered from under water and installed near the Cape Florida lighthouse. Key Biscayne was first developed for coconut cultivation. The earliest mention of coconuts on Key Biscayne is a Spanish account from 1568, although the reference may be to cocoplums rather than coconuts. Mature coconut trees were on Cape Florida by

12276-401: The southern end of what is now Miami Beach, at Government Cut , and the Cape Florida Channel was allowed to return to a natural state. In 1902, William John Matheson , who had made his fortune in the aniline dye business, visited Biscayne Bay on his yacht. He soon built a winter home in Coconut Grove overlooking the bay. In 1908 Matheson began buying up the property on Key Biscayne north of

12400-464: The southern tip of the island (Cape Florida) to the U.S. government for US$ 225. The federal government built the Cape Florida lighthouse on that land in 1825. The first U.S. citizens to take up permanent residence on Key Biscayne were Captain John Dubose, his wife Margaret and their five children in 1825, when Dubose became the first keeper for the new Cape Florida Light, a post he held until

12524-516: The summer of 1839, a total of 143 soldiers and sailors were stationed at Fort Russell. Some of the Seminoles captured during the war were held at Fort Russell until they could be placed on ships to be removed to Indian Territory . A hospital was established at Fort Russell for United States Army , United States Navy , and United States Marine Corps personnel. In August 1840, the Army surgeon at

12648-447: The surface of the island, only layers of weak sandstone to depths of 100 feet (30 m) or more. The coastal transport of sand southward ends at Key Biscayne. In the 1850s, Louis Agassiz noted that "[s]outh of Cape Florida no more silicacious sand is to be seen." (The beaches in the Florida Keys, by contrast, consist primarily of finely pulverized shells.) Geologists believe that the island emerged around 2000 BCE , soon after

12772-820: The time who became well known by analyzing fossils brought back by Lewis and Clark. One of Morton’s personal projects involved studying cranial capacity of human skulls from around the world. Morton aimed to use craniometry to prove that white people were biologically superior to other races. His work " Crania Aegyptiaca" claimed to support the polygenism belief that the races were created separately and each had their own unique attributes. Morton relied on other scientists to send him skulls along with information about where they were acquired. Factors that can affect cranial capacity, such as body size and gender, were not taken into consideration by Morton. He made questionable judgment calls such as dismissing Hindu skull calculations from his Caucasian cranial measurements because they brought

12896-577: The two national parks in Miami-Dade County. Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda related that a sailor from the Bay of Biscay , called the Viscayno or Biscayno , had lived on the lower east coast of Florida for a while after being shipwrecked. A 17th-century map shows Cayo de Biscainhos , the probable origin of Key Biscayne . Key Biscayne, although named a "key", is not geologically part of

13020-528: The vegetation from the southern end of Key Biscayne. An archaeological survey of the exposed ground found evidence of extensive habitation. Juan Ponce de León charted Key Biscayne on his first mission to the New World in 1513. He christened the island Santa Marta and claimed it for the Spanish Crown. He reported that he found a fresh water spring on the island. Ponce de León called the bay behind

13144-727: The wake of scandals surrounding his service as education minister under Ramón Grau San Martín , bought the Cape Florida property from the Deering estate. His offer to donate the lighthouse and ten acres (four hectares) of land around it to the National Park Service was not accepted. In 1950, the Dade County Planning Board announced a plan to build a highway connecting Key Biscayne with the Overseas Highway on Key Largo. The project envisioned bridges connecting artificial islands, to be built on

13268-639: The war, Crandon pushed on with the development project. He got financier Ed Ball to buy six million (U.S.) dollars worth of bonds financing construction of the causeway. The causeway was named for Eddie Rickenbacker , a World War I flying ace , and founder and president of the Miami-based Eastern Air Lines . Starting in 1951, the Mackle Construction Company offered new homes on the island for US$ 9,540, with just US$ 500 down. A U.S. Post Office contract branch

13392-529: The western (Biscayne Bay) side of the Cape Florida property. Áleman died in 1951, and the County soon backed down from its road and bridge plan. His widow, Elena Santeiro Garcia, added to her Cape Florida property by buying an ocean-to-bay strip that had been part of the Matheson property. It included a canal dug by William Matheson in the 1920s, extending from the bay across most of the island. The land north of

13516-512: Was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history . Spending his early life in Switzerland , he received a PhD at Erlangen and a medical degree in Munich . After studying with Georges Cuvier and Alexander von Humboldt in Paris, Agassiz was appointed professor of natural history at the University of Neuchâtel . He emigrated to

13640-556: Was a paleontologist known around the world for important finds, but because of her gender, she was often not formally recognized for her work. Agassiz was grateful for the help that the women gave him in examining fossil fish specimens during his visit to Lyme Regis in 1834. Agassiz died in Cambridge, Massachusetts , in 1873 and was buried on the Bellwort Path at Mount Auburn Cemetery , joined later by his wife. His monument

13764-467: Was a retired millionaire, and interested only in preserving Key Biscayne as a quiet retreat for his family. For a while Flagler's arrival did disturb their quiet, as Flagler brought in dredges to deepen the Cape Florida Channel and the approaches to the mouth of the Miami River, muddying the formerly clear waters of Biscayne Bay. Soon, however, a shorter route from the ocean to Miami was dredged through

13888-523: Was a staunch opponent of that group. Agassiz's engagement for the Lowell Institute lectures precipitated the establishment in 1847 of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University, with Agassiz as its head. Harvard appointed him professor of zoology and geology, and he founded the Museum of Comparative Zoology there in 1859 and served as its first director until his death in 1873. During his tenure at Harvard, Agassiz studied

14012-487: Was a well-known natural scientist of his generation in America. In addition to being a natural scientist, Agassiz wrote prolifically in the field of scientific polygenism after he came to the United States. Upon arriving in Boston in 1846, Agassiz spent a few months acquainting himself with the northeast region of the United States. He spent much of his time with Samuel George Morton , a famous American anthropologist at

14136-533: Was announced to the Geological Society of London in successive communications. The mountainous districts of England, Wales , and Ireland were understood to have been centres for the dispersion of glacial debris. Agassiz remarked "that great sheets of ice, resembling those now existing in Greenland , once covered all the countries in which unstratified gravel (boulder drift) is found; that this gravel

14260-527: Was briefly made U.S. Signal Station Number Four. It was one of 36 along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast from Maine to Texas . The Signal Stations were established to provide an early warning of any approach of the Spanish fleet. The north base marker for Key Biscayne was discovered in 1970 as workers were clearing land. It was at first mistaken as a gravestone for someone named A. D. Bache. The survey base marker at Cape Florida ended up under water, as

14384-666: Was completed in 1847. In 1849 the United States Board of Engineers conducted a preliminary survey of the coast of Florida. In a report written by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee in March, 1849, the Board recommended that Key Biscayne be made a military reservation. Later that year, the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers set up a camp with an astronomical / magnetic station to serve as

14508-558: Was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1843. The vacation of 1836 was spent by Agassiz and his wife in the little village of Bex , where he met Jean de Charpentier and Ignaz Venetz . Their recently announced glacial theories had startled the scientific world, and Agassiz returned to Neuchâtel as an enthusiastic convert. In 1837, Agassiz proposed that the Earth had been subjected to

14632-471: Was established on the mainland until 1743, and that was withdrawn a few months later. The first known European settlers on Key Biscayne were Pedro Fornells, his family and household. Fornells and his wife Mariana were Menorcan survivors of the New Smyrna colony in northern Florida. Pedro and Mariana had joined other Menorcans in seeking refuge at St. Augustine after leaving New Smyrna. They stayed in

14756-436: Was in general produced by the trituration of the sheets of ice upon the subjacent surface, etc." In his later years, Agassiz applied his glacial theories to the geology of the Brazilian tropics, including the Amazon. Agassiz began with a working hypothesis which could be tested by the results of fieldwork to find either inconclusive, or conclusively supporting or refuting evidence. A hypothesis that can be conclusively refuted

14880-582: Was included in its boundaries. There were dreams of a bridge to the island, making Key Biscayne the seaside resort for Coral Gables, as Miami Beach had become for Miami. Obstacles to the project arose. In March 1926, the U.S. government auctioned off some lots on Key Biscayne that had been retained when the rest of the island was transferred to the State of Florida. The Mathesons wanted to have clear title to all of their land, and determined to outbid other interested parties for it. They ended up paying US$ 58,055 for

15004-423: Was lost. They soon had 30,000 coconut trees replanted on 900 acres (364 ha). D. P. Davis could not meet his contract; he declared bankruptcy and disappeared en route to Europe by ship. The Florida land boom was over, and no bridge was built and no development took place on Key Biscayne for the next two decades. William Matheson died in 1930, leaving the island to his children. In 1939, the U.S. Navy approved

15128-574: Was not repaired and put back into commission until 1847. A military post was established on Key Biscayne in March 1838. Its first commander was Lt. Col. James Bankhead. The fort was initially known as Fort Dallas or Fort Bankhead, but it was eventually renamed Fort Russell for Captain Samuel L. Russell. He was killed when the Seminoles ambushed two boats on the Miami River in February 1839. In

15252-720: Was opened, the Community Church started holding services, and the Key Biscayne Elementary School opened in 1952. The residents of Key Biscayne successfully petitioned the Dade County Commission allow a referendum on incorporating the community. The referendum passed and the Village of Key Biscayne was incorporated in 1991, the first new municipality in the county in 30 years. In 1948, José Manuel Áleman, who had fled Cuba in

15376-413: Was supported by 43 living descendants of Agassiz, who wrote in a letter of support, "For Harvard to give the daguerreotypes to Ms. Lanier and her family would begin to make amends for its use of the photos as exhibits for the white supremacist theory Agassiz espoused." Everyone must evaluate fully "his role in promoting a pseudoscientific justification for white supremacy." Aggasiz-Zeally Gallery Agassiz

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