The Future After Four Disasters

Chef Mike Duncan and his wife Laura had left Goodland after their Restaurant, Marker 8.5, was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017 to start over in Cedar Key. They took over Carlin's Steakhouse and Pub on the popular Dock Street and renamed it Duncan’s Restaurant.  

In 2023, Hurricane Idalia impacted the mostly low-lying city, causing serious damage with a seven-foot storm surge, and Duncans suffered major damage. The following summer, Hurricane Debby thrust her own six-foot storm surge onto the island. On September 19, 2024, their restaurant on the busy and touristic Dock Street completely burned and took part of the famous Steamer’s Bar and Grill, as well as a souvenir shop, down with it. 

And as if that all was not enough for the Duncans, a week after the fire, the eye of Hurricane Helene made landfall north of the island of Cedar Key with a record storm surge that measured as much as twelve feet in some places. Devastation was complete. Most of what was left on well-known Dock Street after the fire was rendered inhabitable as well. The entire building of the Big Deck restaurant was blown into the boat harbor, pilings from recently built condominiums on the water’s edge shifted, and in the center of town, buildings caved. The wall of the main grocery store decorated with a whimsical mural of Cedar Key’s nature partially collapsed, roads were washed out, and the post office had to be closed. The catastrophic results were overwhelming, even for many of the other 700 seasoned Cedar Key residents.  

The history of the city dates to the tribes of Creek, Timucuan, and Apalachee Indians, later absorbed into the Seminole Indians. Cedar Key became a center of commerce when the mills were opened here by the New York Eagle Pencil Company to harvest the cedar trees, and Eberhard Faber bought up lands for his pencil industry.  

The Suwannee Lumber and Fenimore Steam and Planing Mills followed, exporting the finished products from bald cypress and yellow pine all over the world, including many of the wood pilings still used today in Key West. The Florida railroad ran from Fernandina Beach on the East Coast all the way to Cedar Key. Tourists followed, traveling by trains and steamboats, taking many of them to the Island Hotel. However, the city has a history as a magnet for hurricanes. As early as 1896, the town and docks were destroyed by 125-mile-an-hour winds. It is not known how high the storm surge was as no records were kept at the time, but over 100 people perished, and it seemed like the city was never going to be rebuilt. But the islanders did not give up on their island. Several other hurricanes touched this beautiful spot over many years until the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 completely destroyed Cedar Key once more. But the biggest blows to the city’s future at the time were the damage to the rail bed from the storm and the dwindling economy in Cedar Key. In 1932, the railroad was diverted to Tampa. Sixty years later, the city spent a short and adventurous period as a hub for the Columbian Drug cartels. The fishermen made serious money smuggling cocaine through the maze of small waterways. The government had a hard time catching them until they created a group of imposter Columbians and bags of money in a fifteen-month sting operation. Everything came to a halt with arrests made in Cedar Key. 

The area found other income in fishing with gill nets, but a new law in 1994 put a halt to that as well. Over the last decades, the fishermen became adept in cultivating cultured clams, and over the years, Cedar Key has produced almost 90% of Florida’s clam supply. The clams are farmed in hatcheries from seed, and the adults will spawn by controlling water temperatures. I have purchased the bushels of this delicacy directly in Cedar Key and at Costo.  

Over a recent weekend, we ventured north to view the restoration of the city. It was a shocking revelation, but at the same time, the general atmosphere and camaraderie gave off a positive vibe that is certainly spearheaded by Mayor Sue Colson. The popular and long-time Mayor of the island, who also runs a food pantry, personally helps locals in whatever way she can. She moved City Hall and the Police Station to higher ground after the last hurricane. But the damage is still visible throughout the community since Hurricane Helene. This should have been the busiest tourist time, but it was almost a ghost town. Dock Street is still in total disarray, and some 40 homes on the island were replaced by travel trailers. A team at Governor DeSantis' office came up with the idea to buy up secondhand and over-stocked travel trailers around the state and offer them to homeowners to live in while rebuilding. It was a brilliant idea that supported everyone involved and allowed owners the opportunity to remain on their property while rebuilding. A few small shops re-opened on Dock Street, as well as one building with a few hotel rooms. My favorite restaurant, Steamers, moved downtown to Second Street.  

The atmosphere of the giant bar and décor in their former restaurant and the spectacular sea views are gone, but fortunately, the menu is the same good coastal food, and the service was just as friendly. I very much enjoyed my favorite Cedar Key clams in white wine and garlic butter sauce. The famous historic Island Hotel and Restaurant across the street and their Neptune Bar, of Jimmy Buffet fame, are open again complete with evening music, and if there are no professionals, the locals will step up to the plate. It is here that President Grover Cleveland stayed when he returned from a visit to Cuba. Tony’s Seafood Restaurant on the same street has not yet reopened. However, we were told that they plan to once again offer their cans of famous Tony’s Clam Chowder for sale soon. The building housing the Island Bakery looks brand new and offers a great selection of homemade sandwiches and pastries. Two beautiful clamshell-inspired sculptures decorate corners on Second Street. Artists Samm Wehman and Amy Richard honored the most important industry of Cedar Key and were sponsored by the University of Florida. This new art gives the positive impression that the city has not given up on the future and plans to continue to rebuild. Clam fishermen are resilient and, despite major challenges and with the help of the local community, the most important industry supporting the city is working full time again. As often happens after a hurricane wildlife, including birds and fish, seem to disappear for a while, but in and around Cedar Key, they are now back. Hopefully, the tourists will soon follow.