Pics taken from the bridge as we walked over it. The top photo is actually a postcard. Used pps from Paper House and Echo Park. Embellies - Paper House. Used a sketch and doodled in 2 corners.

Journaling- Although the Cedar Keys (barrier islands) had been known from the earliest days of Spanish exploration of the Gulf Coast and had been used by both merchant vessels and pirate ships as a place of refuge, it was not until the 19th century that a community began to grow on the islands. Cedar Key, the town, was settled in the early 1840s and had become a flourishing port city by the time of the Civil War. With the completion of the Cross Florida Railroad, the bustling port was connected to the Florida east coast in Fernandina. The railroad carried lumber, turpentine, cotton, seafood products, and passengers. Hotels and warehouses were built.

In 1861, Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Cannon were mounted on Seahorse Key to defend the port and troops were stationed at Cedar Key to defend the town. Salt works were built on the islands to extract salt, an important commodity, from the waters of the Gulf. Salt was obtained for the Confederacy from the evaporation of seawater in kettles and boilers around Cedar Key. In 1862, a Union naval force attacked and destroyed 60 kettles. The Union occupied the Cedar Keys in early 1864, staying for the remainder of the war.


For rewind challenge of April GD #4- use 2 different collections