For this edition of “Lost But Not Forgotten,” we’re remembering Passage Key, a once thriving island near the mouth of Tampa Bay that was largely destroyed by the powerful hurricane of 1921. Once home to a bird sanctuary and a quarantine station for immigrants entering the region, the island was dramatically reshaped by the storm until only fragments remained above water.
Passage Key once stood as one of the most important landmarks on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Long before modern navigation systems and marked channels, sailors entering Tampa Bay relied on the island to guide them safely through the water. Early Spanish mapmakers carefully marked Passage Key on their charts, using it as a reference point for ships traveling between the Gulf and the bay. According to local historian Carl D. King, the island once stretched across 30 to 40 acres and even contained a freshwater lake used by passing ships as a watering stop…