Dock Street, Cedar Key.

Cedar Key is a city located in Levy County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 790.

History

Founded in 1842 as a resort for wealthy planters, Cedar Key became a center for pencil manufacturing when the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company bought huge tracts of land, for 50 cents per acre, in 1855. The town was originally located on an outer island locally known as Atsena Otie, but was rebuilt on a more protected island after a terrible hurricane struck at approximately 4 a.m. September 29, 1896. Today there are a few remnants of the original town on Atsena Otie, including stone water cisterns, and a graveyard whose headstones conspicuously date from only before 1896. There are also many of the juniper (Juniperus virginiana subsp. silicicola) trees that originally drew the pencil company. These were misidentified as cedars by early settlers, whence the name 'Cedar Key'.

The old-fashioned fishing village is now a tourist center with several regionally famous seafood restaurants. The village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, that each attract thousands of visitors to the area.

After a statewide ban on large scale net fishing went into effect July 1, 1995 a government retraining program helped many local fishmen begin farming clams in the muddy waters. Today Cedar Key's clam-based aquaculture is a multi-million dollar industry.

A local museum exhibit displays a reproduction of one of the first air conditioning installations. The system, with compressor and fans, was created in Cedar Key to ease the lot of malaria patients. It is certainly hot and humid in the summer.

Geography

Cedar Key is located at 29°8'44" North, 83°2'30" West (29.145558, _83.041544)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²). 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.9 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 55.39% water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 790 people, 411 households, and 244 families residing in the city. The population density is 335.2/km² (864.7/mi²). There are 686 housing units at an average density of 291.1/km² (750.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 97.47% White, 0.13% African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. 1.52% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 411 households out of which 14.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% are married couples living together, 8.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% are non-families. 34.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 1.92 and the average family size is 2.42.

In the city the population is spread out with 13.2% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 15.6% from 25 to 44, 40.1% from 45 to 64, and 26.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 54 years. For every 100 females there are 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $32,232, and the median income for a family is $41,190. Males have a median income of $27,375 versus $31,806 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,568. 11.1% of the population and 6.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.5% of those under the age of 18 and 9.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

• Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce (http://www.cedarkey.org/)

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=29.145558&longitude=-83.041544&zoom=6)
  • Topographic map from Topozone (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.145558&lon=-83.041544&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100)
  • Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=-83.041544&lat=29.145558&w=750&h=500)