These men are believed to be part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) crew or Red Cross workers assigned to help with recovery and body retrieval after the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. The remains were severely decomposed due to the brutal conditions: heat, exposure, scavengers, and the saltwater storm surge. Many bodies were so badly decomposed that workers had to burn them in mass funeral pyres rather than attempt traditional burials. Some were not found for weeks, months, even years. Others were not found at all. The skeletal remains are possibly those of a WWI veteran who had been living in one of the federally run work camps along the Florida Keys.
The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane was, and remains, the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States, with winds estimated at over 185 mph and a pressure of 892 mb, striking the Upper Florida Keys. The veterans were living in government work camps along the Overseas Highway, building bridges as part of a Great Depression-era jobs program organized under the New Deal. They were extremely vulnerable: the camps were poorly built, evacuation efforts were too slow, and a relief train sent from Miami to rescue them was swept off the tracks by the storm surge before it could reach them. The hurricane exposed how poorly the federal government had treated the WWI veterans, causing a national scandal.
They were not the only vulnerable victims of the storm. Many Bahamian immigrants lived in simple wooden houses or shacks that stood no chance against the wind and water, with no access to early warnings or transportation. Survival came down to pure luck.
In total, an estimated 400 to 500 lives were lost, though the true number may be even higher. Today, a simple but solemn memorial stands at Mile Marker 81.5 on U.S. 1, made from local limestone. Dedicated in 1937, it holds the ashes of more than 300 victims—veterans, Bahamians, and islanders alike.
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