Cudjoe Key, Florida
census designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cudjoe Key is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida. It is on an island of the same name in the lower Florida Keys. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 2,019.[2]
Cudjoe Key, Florida | |
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Coordinates: 24°39′51″N 81°28′56″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Florida |
County | Monroe |
Area | |
• Total | 10.45 sq mi (27.07 km2) |
• Land | 5.17 sq mi (13.40 km2) |
• Water | 5.28 sq mi (13.67 km2) |
Elevation | 5 ft (2 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 2,019 |
• Density | 390.22/sq mi (150.66/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 33042 |
Area code | 305 |
FIPS code | 12-15862[3] |
GNIS feature ID | 1867131[4] |
It was originally called Littleton Island.
The United States Army activated Cudjoe Key Air Force Station in 1959. It was to track missiles traveling through the Eglin Gulf Test Range. The Air Force took over operations the next year.[5] After this, it became a detached installation of Homestead Joint Air Reserve Base.[6] The station flies a white radar aerostat. It is known locally as "Fat Albert". This is used for drug interdiction missions by the Drug Enforcement Administration. On April 20, 2007 a Cessna 182 crashed after its left wing struck the tether anchoring "Fat Albert" . The aerostat is marked on air navigation charts inside a restricted area. The area has the warning, "Caution: Unmarked balloon on cable to 14,000 [feet]."
It is possibly named after the Joewood tree (Jacquinia keyensis), a native species. It is also known as cudjoewood. But writer John Viele of Summerland Key gives a better reason for its name. He believes that Cudjoe, a very common West African name, was the name of a fugitive slave or free negro who lived on the island at some point before to Gerdes' survey in 1849.[7]