Discover Cedar Key
Cedar Key's name points to an industry that once connected these Gulf islands to distant pencil factories. In 1855, Eberhard Faber acquired local timber land and began sending cedar north for pencil production. Pencil mills followed in 1865. The wood-processing business was part of a wider shipping economy supported by the Florida Railroad, which reached Cedar Key in 1860.
More about Cedar Key
That prosperity depended on resources and transport routes that did not remain unchanged. A new railroad to Tampa reduced Cedar Key's shipping advantage, while logging depleted the cedar supply. The hurricane of 1896 damaged mills and trees, adding another severe setback. Those developments explain why the town's industrial past is more complicated than its present waterfront appearance might suggest.
Cedar Key Museum State Park interprets this history alongside collections associated with local resident Saint Clair Whitman. Museum material offers a useful starting point for tracing the relationship between island life, natural resources and manufacturing. Consult the park's current notices before visiting; this background does not imply that every building or exhibit is accessible.
Sources
- Florida State Parks: The Cedar Industry: https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/cedar-industry
- Florida State Parks: Cedar Key Museum History: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/cedar-key-museum-state-park/history