Islamorada (Images of America)

The name Islamorada came to fruition after Henry Flager’s engineer, William Krome, purchased 15 acres of Upper Matecumbe property in 1907. When he registered his parcel as a town site, he called it Isla Morada. A faded newspaper clipping, with May 7, 1907, handwritten in the far right corner, reported: “On the northern end of Upper Matecumbe Key a new town known as Isla Morada has sprung into existence. . . . It is believed that Isla Morada will become an important tourist stopping place in winter as the location is beautiful and the fishing convenient and excellent.” Today, Islamorada refers to a collection―a community―of islands that includes Plantation, Windley, Upper Matecumbe and Lower Matecumbe Keys, as well as two islands designated as state parks, Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key. While Islamorada has always been known for its fishing, these islands boast some serious history, too.