Soldiers Key(s)

Earlier name:

La Parida y su Figulo

La Parida y su Hijos

Laurence Key

Little Soldier Key

Oswald Island

Parida

Scope Note:

 

Current charts show a single key at this location, but many early maps & charts show at least two.

Geographic Location:

 

Located in Biscayne Bay, about midway between the Ragged Keys and Cape Florida.

References:

 

The 1733 Plate Fleet Wreck Chart shows Parida (Spanish for "A woman recently delivered of child"). Juan de Liguera chart (1742) also shows Parida, as does the Father Alaņa chart (1743). O'Carrol chart (1770) shows La Parida y Su Hijos (Spanish for "The New Mother and Her Sons"). DeBrahm chart (1772) shows two keys, Oswald & Laurence. DeBrahm mislocated the placename Soldiers Key in the Ragged Keys. Romans, who visited these keys in 1774 called them La Parida y Su Figulos. Captain Barton, In his Observations, (1774) has Soldier Kays. John Lee Williams, in his "Territory of Florida" (1837), states, "Soldier Keys are three small Islands, in a row, six miles south of Biscayno." A Coast Survey chart published in 1855, shows Soldier Key and Little Soldier Key.

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Send your comments, suggestions, corrections to: Jim Clupper

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