Our History
The History of Cedar Key Bed & Breakfast
from 1880-2914
In 1880, the Eagle Pencil Mill built the home for the superintendent of the mill, George H. Reynolds and guests of the mill.
The Cedar Key Eagle Pencil Mill was across the street from the house.
Group portrait at the Eagle Pencil company cedar mill – Cedar Key. Florida. Before 1896.
The mill was badly damaged by the #4 hurricane and storm surge in September, 1896. The once plentiful stands of red cedar were becoming sparce and because of the hurricane, it was not financially feasible to rebuild. The “Far Away Inn” was built in 1954 on the site of the old mill.
After the mill closed in 1896, Margaret Yulee Read opened it as a boarding house. She was the daughter of David Levy Yulee who was Florida’s first senator and was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Cedar Key.
In 1919, the house was purchased by Boaz C. Wadley for his family.
Boaz and Nannie Wadley
Boaz C. Wadley was born on January 12, 1886, on Buck Island, Cedar Key. He died June 20, 1971. (Boaz is pronounced Boze). He married Nancy (Nannie) Belle Roberts on October 16, 1908. She was born January 18, 1892 on Atsena Otie Key and died January 29, 1979 in Cedar Key.
Their children were all born in Cedar Key:
- Verona Mildred Wadley born June 30, 1909
- Walton Wayland Wadley born June 23, 1911
- Wilhelmena Wadley born July 3, 1913
- Boaz C. Wadley, Jr. born September 7, 1914
- Ida Belle Wadley born February 8, 1921
Boaz only completed 3rd Grade in school according to his daughter, Ida Belle Wadley Davis. He owned a fish house and a couple of bars in Cedar Key. His company was “The Consolidated Fish Company” and was on the main dock. Ida Belle remembered spending time there. She said there were stairs leading down to a platform from which she fished as a girl. She would catch sea roaches from off the pilings to use as bait.
The fish house owners would ship their fish out of Cedar Key by means of the railroad that ran out around the dock. Boaz later owned a fish house that was located across the street from what is now Annie’s Restaurant on Highway 24.
According to Ida Belle’s Birth Certificate, Boaz’s father was born February 22, 1839 in Tirley, Gloucester, England and his mother on February 17, 1844 in Derg, Urney, Tyrone, Ireland.