Situated on the southern tip of Key Biscayne, Cape Florida was the point from which many black Seminoles and escaped slaves sought passage south to the Bahamas when Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States in 1821. Those who could afford passage bargained with the Bahamian wreckers while others made the crossing in Seminole dugout canoes fitted with sails and paddles.

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park is the home of a historic lighthouse built in 1825 and reconstructed in 1846, and is the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County. The lighthouse was attacked by Seminole Indians during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). Cape Florida was a secret meeting place and port for runaway Slaves and Black Seminoles before the lighthouse was built. One of the earliest stations on the national and international Underground Railroad Network, in 2005 the park was dedicated as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site.

Information provided by the Florida Division of Historical Resources, a division of the Florida Department of State.

Photo courtesy of floridamemory.com, image number DC678652.