April is Conch Republic Month

Mayor Teri Johnston and the City Commission, during a recent meeting, proclaimed April Conch Republic Month.

Mayor Emeritus Dennis Wardlow and community leaders, in 1982, defied a state roadblock by declaring independence and establishing the Conch Republic.

Now an annual celebration of Key West’s feisty past, the Conch Republic is founded upon a very real issue. In March of 1982, the federal government placed a border patrol roadblock in Florida City. The resulting traffic backup – and the backlash on the city’s budding tourist industry – drove local leaders to challenge the roadblock in federal court. The City lost.

The end result of the court hearing, according to Mayor Emeritus Wardlow, “is that we lost. So we said, if they’re going to treat us as a foreign country, we’re going to be a foreign country.”

The next day, Key West seceded from the union.

After a mock battle, local leaders surrendered, then demanded foreign aid, which is still pending.

Local business owner Jim Gilleran serves as the Secretary of State for the Conch Republic. He notes that Conch Republic Days has become a major festival in the city. He notes, too, that members of the Conch Republic military practice frivolity and peace and do their share of volunteering in the community.

The independence celebration known as Conch Republic Days runs from April 19th through the 29th. During those ten days, there is a plethora of events including bed races and the infamous battle at sea in which combatants fire stale Cuban bread, conch fritters, and water balloons at one another. The recreation of the Great Battle of the Conch Republic is not to be missed!

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