“For a long time only I lived here … me, the cat and [rescue] just over a year,” says Kelly McKinnon, who has spent the past 14 years living on Pigeon Key, a five-acre island off the coast of Florida.
Luckily, he “doesn’t mind isolation.”
In addition, he says that there are interesting moments in life there – his parcels from Amazon arrive on ferries, fishing is epic, and once a person arrived from Cuba on a raft – and isolation did not particularly affect him: “When the pandemic broke out, this was the best place in the world.
Kelly McKinnon has spent the last 14 years living on Pigeon Key, pictured, off the coast of Florida. The nearest store is about two and a half miles to the west on nearby Knights Quay and can be reached via the Old Seven Mile Bridge, which passes directly over the island but branches off to the east.
“This is not a place where if you forget your eggs you will come back. You can just do without them,” says Kelly McKinnon (pictured), one of Pigeon Key’s four permanent residents.
On the other hand, island life has taken a toll on his personal life – “the island swallowed up a few girlfriends,” he admits.
McKinnon’s small home on the island is part of the Florida Keys, which extends to the southernmost point of America and is connected to the Keys in only one direction – west via the historic Old Seven Mile Bridge, which passes directly over the island but disconnects to the east.
One of four permanent residents, he is the executive director of the Pigeon Key Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the area’s culture and history. And with three other residents hired by McKinnon, he could best be described as the “boss of the island.”
The Michigan-born islander lives alone in a small wooden house built in 1916 – one of eight buildings on the island – and has what he describes as “a pretty good view.”
From the porch you have a pristine view of the crystal clear turquoise water and a view of the lawn where the herons are fishing from a bench in the palm-fringed garden.
The nearest store is about two and a half miles from nearby Knights Quay and can only be reached by boat or via the Old Seven Mile Bridge – it’s only open to walkers, cyclists and ambulances – the islanders “don’t leave too often”. ‘ and should carefully plan their meals.
“This is not a place where if you forget your eggs you will come back. You just do without them,” McKinnon says.
Asked if he can use Uber Eats to stock up on food, McKinnon laughs heartily.
He says: “We don’t have Uber Eats, but sometimes the ferry that leaves brings us our packages from Amazon.”
For McKinnon, the idea of home delivery is so alien that when he visits friends in other parts of the world, the first thing he does is order food. “We order a whole bunch of things to take home because it’s such a novelty,” he says.
A keen fisherman reveals that he gets a lot of food by using his fishing rod, taking out his boat to catch lobster, tuna, boar, legal fish, and swordfish.
This drone image shows the Old Seven Mile Bridge shortly before its big relaunch in January 2022.
Avid fisherman Kelly McKinnon and his girlfriend Ananda Williams (pictured with Kelly, top left) often take the boat to catch lobster and fish. “We can buy a lot of materials right here,” says McKinnon, who likes to be self-sufficient. “If the bridge blows up tomorrow, we can survive. It is depicted on the right with a permitted fish, a food fish native to the western Atlantic Ocean.
“We can buy a lot of materials right here,” says McKinnon, who likes to be self-sufficient. “If the bridge blows up tomorrow, we can survive.
Living off-land on a tropical island may seem like a dream, but as McKinnon discovered, it’s not for everyone.
“I mean, I really like it here, but previous girlfriends weren’t always thrilled about being on the island and being isolated,” he says.
His current girlfriend, Ananda Williams, a coral reef biologist, lives in the town of Marathon, which sprawls along the keys to the west and can be reached by bike in about 20 minutes via the Old Seven Mile Bridge. “She spends most of her time underwater, and it seems to fit her lifestyle,” MacKinnon says, happy to have found someone who is not embarrassed by the single life.
“I mean, I really like it here, but previous girlfriends weren’t always thrilled about being on the island and being isolated,” McKinnon (pictured above) admits.
Pigeon Key is part of the Florida Keys, which extends to the southernmost tip of America.
This man arrived in Pigeon Key from Havana in 2016 on a small raft.
However, despite the slow pace, the island has a way of throwing up surprises.
McKinnon recalls a strange day in 2016 when a man sailed from Havana arrived on the island.
He says: “Once we saw a gentleman running across a piece of an old bridge. He then jumped into the water and swam towards the island. He arrived on a small foam raft and claimed to have jumped into Havana harbor.
“We said hello and brought him water. I think he was allowed to stay.
“It was an interesting day.”
As we’ve learned, unreliable plumbing can also disrupt McKinnon’s schedule.
The sewer system is the main culprit. Being cut off from the mainland means waste cannot be pumped out, and when something goes wrong, McKinnon has to deal with it. “You literally work in shit from time to time, so it’s not too glamorous,” he says.
McKinnon says: “We don’t have Uber Eats, but sometimes the ferry that leaves brings us our packages from Amazon.” Pictured is one of the houses on Pigeon Key.
When the job needs to be done, it’s so disgusting that “I don’t even feel good when I pick on title and say, ‘Hey, the boss doesn’t do this,'” he adds with a shudder.
Sleepy Island also witnessed some strange events after dark. In addition to the twinkling phosphorescent fireflies illuminating the ocean (McKinnon says it’s a sight not to be missed), some residents claim to have seen ghosts.
People who have visited the island say that they saw ghosts in the windows of houses, heard ghostly trains rushing past, or felt heaviness in their chest at night.
“I have never experienced any of this. I really don’t want to,” McKinnon says. “If there are ghosts here, I hope they know that I am doing my best to take care of this place and preserve the history and culture.”
According to McKinnon, the appearance of ghosts may be due to people’s wild imagination, caused by the island’s fascinating history.
In the early 1900s, it was a work camp of 400 people who built what is now the Old Seven Mile Bridge.
The bridge, originally called the Knights Key Pigeon Key Moser Canal Paset Channel, was used to carry steam locomotives and was built to the exacting standards of Henry Flagler, a railroad magnate who kept a close eye on his workforce. He was a teetotaler and did not believe that drinking contributed to hard work.
When it was built in 1912, the Pigeon Key Bridge was used to carry trains, as shown in this undated photograph. The bridge’s original name was the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge.
McKinnon says: “The reality is that it probably wasn’t a very pleasant place to work. Four hundred guys on a small island. No deodorant, limited fresh water, no women, no booze, no gambling.
It’s these interior details, along with the place’s old Florida charm, that McKinnon wants to keep.
“When the pandemic hit, Pigeon Key was the best place in the world to
Pigeon Key resident Kelly McKinnon
The Pigeon Key Foundation aims to bring the island’s history to life through tours and exhibitions, with over 200 visitors daily. That number will only increase with the $44 million renovation of the Old Seven Mile Bridge earlier this year.
“We’re not going to turn Pigeon Key into Disney,” McKinnon says. “It’s an incredibly expensive environment to maintain because everything is 100 years old, it’s all made of wood, and it’s in one of the harshest environments you can imagine.
“We want to save the atmosphere without spoiling it for anyone, and for me! I live here, so 500 people in the yard a day seems more than enough.”
McKinnon is pictured here on the Old Seven Mile Bridge with a childhood friend visiting.
The road bridge next to the Old Seven Mile Bridge (above) was completed in 1982.
The Marine Science Center is another big part of the Pigeon Key Foundation’s work. The center is currently researching cures for Alzheimer’s and cancer derived from creatures in the water, as well as coral restoration and mangrove planting.
McKinnon, of course, helps with all this – the other three residents of the island are working on environmental and educational programs.
“We’re a tight-knit group,” McKinnon says of his select team, all of whom started out as trainees. The longest-serving employee has been living here for 10 years, and the shortest for three.
“When I hire people, I don’t just hire an employee. I’m hiring a neighbor,” McKinnon says.
McKinnon takes a slow and steady approach to hiring – who wouldn’t? It’s impossible to escape from an annoying colleague if you live next door.
“When I hire people, I don’t just hire an employee. I’m hiring a neighbor,” he says of the hiring process.
Hints in the interrogation seem to reach McKinney, who quickly adds, “And I’m not going to send anyone else to the island.”
Well, our Robinson Crusoe dreams are shattered, but at least we can console ourselves with takeaway food.