Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map showing the location of Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
LocationHillsborough County, Florida, United States
Nearest citySt. Petersburg, Florida
Coordinates27°35′11″N 82°45′41″W / 27.58625°N 82.761389°W / 27.58625; -82.761389
Area328 acres (1.33 km2)
Established1974
Governing bodyFlorida Department of Environmental Protection
WebsiteEgmont Key State Park
Egmont Key
Coordinates27°35′24″N 82°45′46″W / 27.59000°N 82.76278°W / 27.59000; -82.76278
Area450 acres (182 ha)
Built1840
NRHP reference No.78000946[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 11, 1978

Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park is a National Wildlife Refuge and State Park located on the island of Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Egmont Key lies southwest of Fort De Soto Park and can only be reached by boat or ferry. Located within Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park are the 1858 Egmont Key Lighthouse, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the ruins of Fort Dade, a Spanish–American War era fort that housed 300 residents.[2] Egmont Key is located in Hillsborough County Florida on a narrow strip of the county that extends along the Tampa Port Shipping Channel.

Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974. The entire 328 acres (133 ha) island is all part of the Refuge.[3] Egmont Key is one of the three 'Tampa Bay Refuges', along with Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge, and the Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge, that was administered as a part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex but changed to the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex headquartered in Crystal River, Florida. The complex also manages the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge and the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.[4]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns and manages Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and entered into a cooperative agreement with Florida Park Service to cooperatively manage the entire island in 1989 and is known as Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park.

Registry information

Egmont Key was listed as a Military related place of significance in the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1978 with reference #78000946.[5] Only 2.75 miles North West from Egmont Key is the Historic Register #100003048 U.S.S. NARCISSUS Tugboat Shipwreck that can be toured.

Fauna

Among the wildlife in the refuge are box turtles, gopher tortoises, dolphins, manatees, and birds such as osprey, brown pelicans, white ibis, royal and sandwich terns, black skimmers, American oystercatchers and laughing gulls. The southern end of Egmont Key and a section of the east beach are closed year-round to all public use to provide nesting habitat for the laughing gulls, terns, white ibis, brown pelicans, and American oystercatchers. These closed areas also provide habitat for birds migrating during the spring and fall and for wintering birds.

Visiting

There are no refuge or state park fees for visiting the island (this is excluding ferry tickets or boat rental fees).

Egmont Key is only accessible by boat and has no drinking water, restrooms, or shops due to the remote nature.[2] Because of this, visitors are advised to bring food and water for their visit. No alcoholic beverages, glass, kites, drones, fireworks, hunting, or pets of any kind are permitted on the island due to the island being a National Wildlife Refuge.

Visitors needing transport to the island can utilize the Egmont Key Ferry Cruise provided by Hubbard's Marina departing from the Bay Pier located within Fort De Soto. The ferry departs daily at 10am and 11am for a 4 hour trip; 3 hours on the island and 30 minutes travel each way. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday there is also a 2pm ferry. Ferry tickets are $45.00 for adults 12 and up, $25.00 for youth ages 3–11, and free for those under age 3. Snorkeling gear can also be rented.

GPS coordinates include:

  • Ranger Station: N 27 36. 032 W 82 45. 623
  • Lighthouse: N 27 36. 047 W 82 45. 634
  • Fort Dade: 27.5953° N, 82.7637° W

Recreational activities

Activities include sunbathing, swimming, shelling (shell collecting - collecting of live shells is prohibited), boating, picnicking, snorkeling, and wildlife viewing within designated areas. Visitors can also tour the fort ruins and gun batteries. The lighthouse is no longer open to the public due to safety concerns. A visitor center, staffed by volunteers, is located in the guardhouse and is open on special occasions. Amenities include beaches, nature trails, and picnic tables.[6]

Hours

Egmont Key is open 365 days a year from 8am until sunset.

History

Egmont Key became an island around 11,000 years ago, separated from the mainland by the rising coastline. The Tocobaga tribe had a persistent but impermanent presence on the island, as evidenced by the discovery of arrowheads and spear points. A Spanish surveyor found an abandoned canoe, presumably Tocobaga, on the island in 1757. Spanish incursions and the collapse of the Tocobaga population, however, meant that their presence on the islands ended in the late 1700s.

Spanish surveyors first mapped the island in the 1750's, naming it Isla de San Blas y Barreda, in honor of a Cuban official. Following the transfer of Florida to the British in 1763, a mapper commissioned by the English returned to Tampa Bay, and named the island Egmont, in honor of the Lord Egmont, who was at the time the First Lord of the British Admiralty.[7]

As with the rest of Florida, Egmont Key transitioned between rule by Spain and England multiple times before finally becoming part United States in 1821.[8] In 1847, concerns with hazardous navigation at the mouth of Tampa Bay led to the construction of the first lighthouse, but the Great Gale of 1848 swamped the island and all but destroyed the original lighthouse.[9] The lighthouse keeper reportedly rode out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palmetto. After the storm had passed, the keeper rowed to Fort Brooke and tendered his resignation.[8] In 1858, the lighthouse was replaced with the lighthouse that still stands today.

During the 19th century, Egmont Key was used as a camp for captured Seminoles at the end of the Third Seminole War and later in the century the island was occupied by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.[2] Defense considerations during the Spanish–American War led to the construction of Fort Dade on the island in 1898, and Egmont Key remained a military reservation until 1923.[2]

Coast Defenses of Tampa[10]
BatteriesNo. GunsWeapon/MountLocationRemarks
Battery Laidley812" MortarFort De SotoPartially disarmed 1921
Battery McIntosh28" Gun, Disappearing CarriageFort DadeDisarmed 1923
Battery Howard26" Gun, Disappearing CarriageFort DadeDisarmed 1926
Battery Burchsted26" Armstrong Gun, Pedestal MountFort DadeDisarmed 1919
Battery Burchsted13" Gun, Masking Pedestal MountFort DadeDisarmed 1920
Battery Bigelow23" Gun, Masking Pedestal MountFort De SotoDisarmed 1920
Battery Mellon33" Gun, Masking Pedestal MountFort DadeDisarmed 1920
Battery Page23" Gun, Pedestal MountFort DadeDisarmed 1919

In 1928, Pan Am's first crash occurred in the Gulf of Mexico near Egmont.[11] On August 15 that year, a Fokker/Atlantic F.VIIIb/3m that was turned into a "C-2 Tri-motor", General Machado (NC55 or 53[12]), was operating a Pan Am flight from Havana to Key West, when it became lost and ditched off of the island after running out of fuel. 1 of the 5 occupants, Norman Ageton, died. The plane had been originally built as a F.VIIIb/3m for Colonial Air Transport.[13]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns and manages Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and entered into a cooperative agreement with Florida Park Service to cooperatively manage the entire island in 1989 and is known as Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park. In 1974, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over Egmont Key. They turned the island over to the State of Florida in 1989, and it became a state park. Budgetary concerns in 2009 led to a proposal to close the park.[7]

Harbor pilot station

Since 1926, Egmont Key has been the location of the Tampa Bay Pilot Association's Pilot Station operation guiding ship traffic safely into and out of the port of Tampa, protecting the wildlife and environment from damage.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Egmont Key State Park". Florida State Parks. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  3. ↑ Tidewater: Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park- Retrieved 2017-12-26
  4. ↑ Crystal River Complex- Retrieved 2017-12-26
  5. ↑ Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934 - ) (2013–2017). Florida SP Egmont Key. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Florida, 1/1/1964 - 12/31/2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Experiences & Amenities". Florida State Parks. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Tomalin, Terry. "Tampa Bay's sentinel, Egmont Key, about to be left unguarded." page L2. The St. Petersburg Times. Online. February 6, 2009. Online.
  8. 1 2 Straub, W. L. History of Pinellas County. page 27. The Record Company. St. Augustine, Florida. 1929.
  9. ↑ Baker, Rick. Mangroves to Major League: a Timeline of St. Petersburg, Florida. page 18. St. Petersburg. Southern Heritage Press. 2000.
  10. ↑ Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941, Volume 2. The Arms: Cavalry, Field Artillery, and Coast Artillery, 1919-41. Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 1029.
  11. ↑ Historical Foundation, Pan Am (2015). "Pan Am's First Crash" (PDF). panam.org. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Civil Aircraft Register - United States". www.airhistory.org.uk. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "Accident Fokker/Atlantic F.VIIb/3m NC55, 15 Aug 1928". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Tampa Bay Online: Harbor Pilot's Egmont Key Station". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.

References

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