Richard Nixon’s 1970 Visit and His Final Chapter
April 22, 2026
On April 23, 1982, the Florida Keys made headlines for something no one saw coming. Frustrated by a federal roadblock that treated the islands as if they were a foreign nation, community leaders in Key West decided to lean into the absurdity.
If the United States was going to treat them like another country, they figured they might as well act like one. And with that, the Conch Republic was born.
The trouble had started a month earlier, when a Border Patrol checkpoint at the edge of the Keys created a seventeen mile traffic jam. Cars were searched one by one, visitors canceled trips, and the local tourism economy began to feel the strain.
After a failed attempt in federal court to stop the blockade, Mayor Dennis Wardlow faced a crowd of reporters and announced, “We’re going to go home and secede.”
On April 23, a new flag was raised over city hall, and a playful “battle” broke out in the harbor involving water balloons, conch fritters, and stale Cuban bread. The blockade soon disappeared, but the spirit of the Conch Republic lived on.
Today, it remains less a nation and more a state of mind, celebrating humor, resilience, and a uniquely Keys approach to protest and community pride.