Cover Story
Arrival marked the start of a new era of prosperity for Key West

January 22, 1912: The scene was awash in an ocean of American flags and bunting with the Florida East Coast Railway's colors of yellow and red predominating. The international media, celebrities and foreign diginitaries were all there and by 10:00 AM every spot on the grounds was taken. With the roar of bursting bombs, the playing of the bands, the shrill screeches of whistles, the cheering of thousands of people, the first through train over the Over-Sea Railway, bearing Henry & Mrs. Flagler and officials of the FECRwy, pulls into Key West precisely at 10:43 A.M.

Monday January 22, 1912
The Train Arrives

The crowd started to gather before the sky had begun to lighten. Young and old, sailors and civilians, rich and poor­ they came on foot or by carriage down the new road angling off Caroline Street to Trumbo Point. They were there to see a train arrive­ the first into Key West and the first one many in the crowd had seen in their lifetime. Shortly after 10:30, the sound of a whistle could be heard as the train chugged across the Old East Channel from Stock Island and headed into Key West. Within minutes, the train took a jog to the right and headed across landfill and a drawbridge onto Trumbo Point and, at 10:43 a.m., pulled into the station. That signaled the start of the greatest celebration ever held in Key West.

The Light Guard Band and the Cuban Military Band had been taking turns providing the music all morning and, as the train pulled into view, struck up a suitable fanfare. The 80th Company Coast Artillery, the Key West Guard and the Naval Militia were providing crowd control­ with an honor guard decked out in white uniforms lining both sides of the track (see top.) The noise was deafening as the largest crowd ever assembled in Key West cheered the momentous occasion. They were all there to see and honor one man­ Henry M. Flagler, the businessman benefactor of the Florida East Coast Railway.

The Over-Seas Special was directly behind, carrying the President's official Representative, Assistant Secretary of War General Robert Shaw Oliver. Also on board were US Senators and Representatives, members of the House Committees on Military Affairs, on Naval Affairs, and on Rivers and Harbors, plus Army and Navy commanders and Official Representatives of France, Italy and Brazil.

The third train to pull in carried railroad executives, including members of the Chattanooga Board of Trade and delegations from Jacksonville and Miami­ their presence emphasizing the importance of trade via railway to the economy of 1912. In all, seven trains pulled into Key West that day.

As the eighty-two-year-old Flagler stepped down from the observation platform at the back of the train, he said to his aide, "Now I can die fulfilled," and stepped forward to clasp the hand of Key West Mayor Dr. Joseph N. Fogarty.

The two men walked to a reviewing stand, passing by a Children's Chorus of close to a thousand Keys schoolchildren throwing rose petals into their path. There were presentations to Flagler by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and by several local committees­ and it was all caught on film by John Frawley for the Lubin Manufacturing Company (see issue #15.)

By noon, all had adjourned to the Jefferson Hotel in the 100 block of Duval and then across the street to the Elks Club at #117 for a public reception­ just the first in a whirlwind of parties and events, both public and private, to celebrate the greatest day of all in Key West history.