Editing Cedar Key, Florida (section)

===Present===
[[File:Historic Bodiford Drug Store at 409 2nd St. on the northwest corner of B St. in Cedar Key, Florida.jpg|thumb|Historic Bodiford Drug Store at 409 2nd St. on the northwest corner of B St. in Cedar Key, Florida. An example of [[tabby concrete|tabby]] construction.]]
The old-fashioned [[fishing village]] is now a tourist center with several regionally famous seafood restaurants. The village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, that each attract thousands of visitors to the area.

The municipality was officially incorporated as the "'''City of Cedar Key'''" in 1923.<ref name=CKInc/><ref name=CedKeyInc/>

In 1950, [[Hurricane Easy (1950)|Hurricane Easy]], a category-3 storm with {{convert|125|mph|adj=on}} winds, looped around Cedar Key three times before finally making landfall, dumping {{convert|38|in}} of rain and destroying two-thirds of the homes. The storm came ashore at low tide, so the surge was only {{convert|5|ft}}.<ref name="hurricanecity" />

[[Hurricane Elena]] followed a similar path in 1985, but did not make landfall. Packing {{convert|115|mph|adj=on}} winds, the storm churned for two days in the Gulf, {{convert|50|mi}} to the west, battering the waterfront. All the businesses and restaurants on Dock Street were either damaged or destroyed, and a section of the seawall collapsed.<ref name="hurricanecity" />

After a statewide ban on large-scale net fishing went into effect July 1, 1995, a government retraining program helped many local fishermen begin farming clams in the muddy waters. Today, Cedar Key's clam-based [[aquaculture]] is a multimillion-dollar industry.{{Cn|date=May 2025}} As of 2025 Florida's clam aquaculture industry is centered on Cedar Key with 90% of production taking place there. The industry is negatively impacted by storms and [[hurricanes]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Helmer |first1=Jodi |title=Florida’s weatherbeaten clam farming community may be hanging by a thread, but it’s a strong one |url=https://www.globalseafood.org/advocate/floridas-weatherbeaten-clam-farming-community-may-be-hanging-by-a-thread-but-its-a-strong-one/ |website=globalseafood.org |publisher=Global Seafood Alliance |access-date=16 May 2025}}</ref>

A local museum exhibit displays a reproduction of one of the first [[air conditioning]] installations. The system, with compressor and fans, was used in Cedar Key to ease the lot of malaria patients.

Cedar Key is home to the [[George T. Lewis Airport]] (CDK).

[[Hurricane Eta]] made one of its two landfalls in Florida at about 4 a.m. Thursday, November 10, 2020, near Cedar Key, as a tropical storm.<ref name="FL damage">{{Cite news|last=Callaway|first=Jackie|url=https://www.abcactionnews.com/money/consumer/taking-action-for-you/storm-damage-estimate-tops-1-billion-for-florida-after-tropical-storm-eta|title=Storm damage estimate tops $1 billion for Florida after Tropical Storm Eta|publisher=ABC Action News|date=2020-11-16|access-date=2020-11-17}}</ref>

On August 30, 2023, [[Hurricane Idalia]] caused significant damage to Cedar Key as it headed towards Florida's [[Big Bend (Florida)|Big Bend]]. Although not making a direct hit on the city, the storm brought heavy rains, winds, and [[storm surge]] levels that reached a record {{convert|6.8|ft|m}} above high tide.<ref name="WUFT30Sep" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/hurricane-idalia-path-florida-08-30-23#h_2906eba0148fa5884efd6a1c45a46298 |title=These areas are seeing their highest water levels ever as Hurricane Idalia barrels through Florida |last=Miller |first=Brandon |date=2023-08-30 |website=CNN |series=August 30, 2023 - Idalia makes Florida landfall |at=9:09 am EDT |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510095752/https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/hurricane-idalia-path-florida-08-30-23/index.html |archive-date=2024-05-10 |quote=Cedar Key: 6.8 feet above highest tides, eclipsing the previous 5.99-foot record set during Hurricane Hermine in September 2016. Storm surge has reached 8.9 feet.}}</ref>

On the night of September 26, 2024, [[Hurricane Helene]] caused significant to major damage to Cedar Key as it headed towards Florida's [[Big Bend (Florida)|Big Bend]]. It hit close enough to Cedar Key, to bring major floods, major wind gusts, heavy rain, and [[storm surge]] levels that reached a new record {{convert|9.2|ft|m}} above high tide, surpassing Hurricane Idalia's {{convert|6.8|ft|m}} storm surge.