Cedar Key, Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 790 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 958. [1]
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[edit] History
Founded in 1842 as a resort for wealthy planters, Cedar Key became a center for pencil manufacturing when the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company bought huge tracts of land, for 50 cents per acre ($124/km²), in 1855. The town was originally located on an outer island locally known as Atsena Otie Key, but was rebuilt on a more protected island after a terrible hurricane struck at approximately 4 a.m. September 29, 1896. Today there are a few remnants of the original town on Atsena Otie Key, including stone water cisterns, and a graveyard whose headstones conspicuously date from only before 1896. There are also many of the juniper (Juniperus virginiana subsp. silicicola) trees that originally drew the pencil company. These were misidentified as cedars by early settlers, hence the name 'Cedar Key'.
The old-fashioned fishing village is now a tourist center with several regionally famous seafood restaurants. The village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, that each attract thousands of visitors to the area. Also Cedar Key is the biggest clam producer in the south.[citation needed]
In 1950, Hurricane Easy looped around Ceday Key 3 times before finally making landfall, causing severe damage to the small community.
After a statewide ban on large scale net fishing went into effect July 1, 1995 a government retraining program helped many local fishermen begin farming clams in the muddy waters. Today Cedar Key's clam-based aquaculture is a multi-million dollar industry. A local museum exhibit displays a reproduction of one of the first air conditioning installations. The system, with compressor and fans, was used in Cedar Key to ease the lot of malaria patients. It is certainly hot and humid in the summer.
It is home to the George T. Lewis Airport (CDK).
[edit] National historic status
Cedar Key's importance in Florida's history, which began as far back as 1000 BC with pre-Columbian habitation of the region, was recognized on October 3, 1989 by the federal government. At that time, 80,000 acres in and around the town were added to the National Register of Historic Places under the title of the Cedar Keys Historic and Archaeological District.
[edit] Geography
Cedar Key is located at (29.145558, -83.041544).GR1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²). 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.9 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (55.39%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 790 people, 411 households, and 244 families residing in the city. The population density was 335.2/km² (864.7/mi²). There were 686 housing units at an average density of 291.1/km² (750.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.47% White, 0.13% African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.51% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.52% of the population.
There were 411 households out of which 14.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.92 and the average family size was 2.42.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.2% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 15.6% from 25 to 44, 40.1% from 45 to 64, and 26.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,232, and the median income for a family was $41,190. Males had a median income of $27,375 versus $31,806 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,568. About 6.6% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce
- Levy County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Levy County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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