Cedar Key Circa 1884

Shell Mound Area Near Cedar Key

CEDAR KEY. This place is the terminus of the Central Division and is situated upon one of a series of small islands or keys lying close to the main land and surrounded by the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, forming a capacious and excellent harbor.

The neighboring islands...are occupied by the extensive "cedar-mills" of A.W. Faber and Co. ...for the manufacture of the celebrated Faber pencils... . The sponge trade is also a prominent feature of the commerce of the place... . Large quantities of fish, oysters and turtle are also shipped hence all over the State and latterly by preservation in ice to the cities of Georgia and other interior states.

Cedar Key has been for many years the chief distributing point for the trade of the lower Gulf ports being the only Gulf coast point on the peninsula reached by rail. [Source]

The area on YouTube.