Editing Cedar Key, Florida (section)

===Pre-Civil War===
[[File:Island Hotel, Cedar Key, Florida (2).jpg|right|thumb|[[Island Hotel]] ]]
In 1842, the United States Congress had enacted the [[Armed Occupation Act]], a precursor of the [[Homestead Act]], to increase white settlement in Florida as a way to force the Seminoles to leave the territory. With the abandonment of the Army base on Depot Key, the Cedar Keys became available for settlement under the act. Under the terms of the act, several people received permits for settlement on Depot Key, Way Key, and Scale Key. [[Augustus Steele]], US Customs House Officer for [[Hillsborough County, Florida]], and postmaster for the [[Tampa Bay area]], received the permit for Depot Key, which he renamed [[Atsena Otie Key]]. In 1843, he bought the buildings on the island, and built some cottages for wealthy guests. In 1844, he became the Collector of Customs for the port of Cedar Key, as well as for [[Tampa, Florida]]. A post office named "Cedar Key" was established on Atsena Otie Key in 1845. The Florida legislature chartered the "'''''City of Atsena Otie'''''" in 1859.{{sfn|McCarthy|2006|pp=8-10, 15}}

Cedar Key became an important port, shipping lumber and naval stores harvested on the mainland. By 1860, two mills on Atsena Otie Key were producing "[[Juniperus virginiana|cedar]]" slats for shipment to northern pencil factories. As a result of the growth, the US Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse on Seahorse Key in 1850. The [[Cedar Key Light]] was completed in 1854. The lighthouse lantern is {{convert|28|ft}} above the ground, but the lighthouse sits on a {{convert|47|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} hill, putting the light {{convert|75|ft}} above sea level. The light was visible for {{convert|16|mi}}. Wood-frame residences were added to each side of the lighthouse several years later.{{sfn|McCarthy|2006|pp=13, 16, 22}}{{sfn|McCarthy|2006|pp=103-4}}

In 1860, Cedar Key became the western terminus of the [[Florida Railroad]], connecting it to [[Fernandina Beach, Florida]] on the east coast of Florida.{{sfn|Turner|2003|p=31}} [[David Levy Yulee]], U.S. senator and president of the Florida Railroad, had acquired most of Way Key to house the railroad's terminal facilities. A town was platted on Way Key in 1859, and Parsons and Hale's General Store, which is now the [[Island Hotel]], was built there in the same year.{{sfn|McCarthy|2006|pp=17-18, 22}} On March 1, 1861, the first train arrived in Cedar Key, just weeks before the Civil War began.