A Brief, Sometimes Funny History

. . . OF CONCHS AND THE CONCH REPUBLIC

The Conch Republic flag is flown on many buildings and boats. Here 

it flies at Historic Pigeon Key.

Son Brian gave us a Conch Republic flag years and years ago that we really didn't understand at the time. We do now and have raised it on Carina's flag halyard since arriving in the Keys. What we've learned about conchs and the Keys in the past few weeks is:

Conchs are Both Critters and their Shells

The conch (pronounced konk) name refers to large sea snails found around the Gulf and Caribbean, and it also refers to their shells. We don't like to think of conchs as snails, but that's what they are. Every restaurant menu in the Keys offers conch fritters, conch chowder, or conch salad. Like many things, we're loving them to extinction, and limits may be put on their harvest worldwide in the future.

Conch fritters are deep-fat fried balls of dough with conch mixed in. 

Think hush puppies with conch instead of onion.

For now though, not only is conch good (though often tough) meat, it's a fine instrument, too. When the tip of the conch shell has been cut off, it makes a horn with a deep baritone sound. On Grenada and other islands, fishermen blew conch shells to let islanders know they were arriving with a fresh catch. Now, sailors use them to signal the moment the sun disappears down the horizon. We think blowing a conch shell must be like learning the tuba in high school band. It takes practice to blow a smooth continuous sound -- and the only time you can practice is a couple of minutes at sunset. 

A Queen Conch shell surrounded by coral and other varieties 

of shells at a Marathon shell store.

Conchs are People, Too, who Seceded from the Union -- for a Minute

Early settlers to the Keys became known as Conchs, a name still applied to longtime local residents. The Conch Republic started as a serious concern for the Keys that became a tongue-in-cheek tourist promotion.

In 1982, the U.S. Border Patrol set up a roadblock at the very northern part of the Keys to search vehicles for drugs and illegal immigrants. The Key West City Council complained that the roadblock paralyzed its tourism industry. Legal attempts to stop the searches failed, so as a protest the mayor and city council of Key West declared its independence on April 23, 1982. 

The city council believed that the border station was set up as though the Keys were a foreign nation, and so they decided to become one. The new nation took the name the Conch Republic. The rest of the Keys -- known as the Northern Territories -- were included in the new nation.

At a public gathering April 23, the mayor broke a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform to begin the Conch Republic's Civil Rebellion. According to Conch Republic's Web site, "After one minute of rebellion, the now, Prime Minister Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the Navy Base at Key West, and surrendered to the Union Forces, and demanded 1 Billion dollars in foreign aid and War Relief to rebuild our nation after the long Federal siege!" 

The border station was closed. However, the Conch Republic is still waiting for the federal aid.

Each April 23 Key West celebrates Conch Republic Independence Day with reinactments and community parties. 

In our six weeks here, we first thought the Conch Republic represented a lifestyle, like Margaritaville without the alcohol. As we understood it better, it seemed to represent a culture, like Cajun in Louisiana. Now we believe the best comparison is to the Boston Tea Party in the 1700s -- a political protest that brought unreasonable government actions to public attention. . . only the Conch Republic did it with humor and continues to do so today. We thought you might have fun reading about it. Visit conchrepublic.com for more history and laughs.



Next Blog: The Legacy of Henry Flagler