Plans to designate the reefs off Key Largo for a park started in the 1930s. The state-sanctioned Everglades National Park Commission proposed a national park for the
Everglades, including the reefs off Key Largo. Opposition from property owners, outdoorsmen, and
Monroe County commissioners stopped the plan. When
Everglades National Park was created in 1947, the boundaries did not include Key Largo or any of the reefs. By the late 1950s, citizens were growing concerned about the damage occurring to the reefs along the Florida Keys.
Seashells,
corals,
sponges,
seahorses, and other marine life were being hammered, chiseled, and even dynamited from the reefs to provide
souvenirs for tourists.
Gilbert L. Voss of the Marine Institute of Miami and
John D. Pennekamp, an editor with the
Miami Herald, teamed up to lead a fight to protect the reefs from further damage. Pennekamp had strong credentials for the fight. He had been active in establishing Everglades National Park, had been the first chairman of the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, and had been a consultant with the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service. These efforts led the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials to designate the state-controlled reefs off Key Largo a permanent preserve. In the spring of 1960, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the adjacent, federally controlled area of the reefs as the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve. Florida Governor
Leroy Collins later changed the name of the park to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in recognition of John Pennekamp's efforts to save marine life. A land base and access to
U.S. 1 (the
Overseas Highway) were acquired by purchase and donation. The park opened in 1963.* History of John Pennekamp State Park at Florida Keys History Museum ==Recreational activities==