Indian Key Historic State Park's dock is open for landings. </p><p>The 11-acre island had been inaccessible to all but those arriving via paddle power since the island's dock was wiped out in the hurricanes of 2005.</p><p>After three years and $399,000 in repair work, the dock is back in business.</p><p>There's a lot of history packed onto the diminutive Indian Key. </p><p>Once the Dade County seat, Indian Key was a prosperous deep-water port used by wreckers -- those who salvaged the ships that crashed into the reef -- and traders in the first half of the 19th Century.</p><p>During its heyday from 1830 to 1840, Indian Key had a population of as many as 200 people and many more visitors, says Melba Nezbed, the park's manager. It had businesses, a post office, a hotel and even a billiards room and dance hall.</p><p>That all changed on Aug. 7, 1840, when a group of Seminole Indians attacked, killing several residents and leaving the island a smoldering ruin.</p><p>Ownership changed hands many times over the decades, with families using it as a place to camp and picnic. Occasional development plans came and went.</p><p>The Labor Day hurricane of 1935 took away the deep-water access, and the island continued its fade into obscurity. </p><p>Meanwhile, the exotic plants planted and cared for by former resident Dr. Henry Perrine grew out of control, combining with its native mangrove and buttonwood fringe to blanket the remains of the island's streets and buildings. </p><p>Then the state bought the island in the 1970s.</p><p>Nezbed has been with the state park service for 30 years, and she's been at Indian Key 28 of those years. Assistant manager Bob Rose is similarly long tenured.</p><p>Nezbed can remember when they'd walk just 50 feet away from the dock and run into an impenetrable wall of vegetation.</p><p>There was no bringing heavy equipment out to clear the island, with its delicate treasures of Keys history; clearing it was a hands-on job. The vegetation gradually gave way under a daily assault from machetes and clippers. </p><p>The now well-defined paths were built with sand and gravel brought out bucket by bucket. </p><p>Everything had to be carried over on boats, which made nothing easy.</p><p>"Our blood and sweat have gone into making the island look the way it does," she says. "It took 20 years to get the island to look the way it does now."</p><p>The way it looks now is a mix of native and under-control exotic plants, many of which are labeled for passersby, and wide paths complete with street signs.</p><p>Walks down those manicured paths take visitors past what remains of Indian Key's once-thriving settlement. Over the years, national park service workers have helped stabilize what remains of the homes and businesses, mostly stone and brick foundations and cisterns.</p><p>An observation tower offers a bird's eye view of the island. That aging structure was rebuilt when the dock work was being done, Nezbed says.</p><p>Maintaining Indian Key -- particularly keeping back its exotic vegetation -- is no easy task. Someone has to be on the island pretty much every day doing something.</p><p>Nezbed and Rose run three historic Upper Keys parks -- Indian, Lignumvitae and Windley. Indian Key is open seven days a week; Lignumvitae Botanical Reef State Park and Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park are closed Tuesday and Wednesday. </p><p>With three parks to care for and only seven staff members, Nezbed, Rose and their crew have their hands full. It's a task that would be even more daunting if not for the help and support of the Friends group, she says. </p><p>Nezbed says they won't be offering guided tours of Indian Key on a regular basis, but with rangers on the island so often, an impromptu tour is often a possibility. </p><p>"It's very easy to do a self-guided tour," Nezbed says, and rangers are always ready to answer any questions visitors may have.</p><p>While the island's lack of freshwater might seem like a downside, it's actually what made the island ideal for habitation.</p><p>The island is dry -- desertlike, in fact -- and mosquitoes are rare. So it's a tolerable -- albeit sometimes very hot -- place to be even in summer and fall.</p><p>The lack of a dock hasn't kept people from the island. Those with the inclination to paddle a canoe or kayak over have continued to visit, Nezbed says. It's actually been pretty nice for those folks, who often had the island to themselves for a couple of hours.</p><p>For those without their own boats, powered or otherwise, kayak rentals are also available at Robbie's, which serves as the state's concessionaire for both Indian and Lignumvitae keys.</p><p>Visitors are welcome on the island from 8 a.m. to sunset daily. You can make your way over their yourself or catch a ride on the boat from Robbie's for a fee.</p><p>For more information, call the park office at 664-0655. Robbie's, 77522 Overseas Highway, can be reached at 664-9814 or by visiting www.robbies.com.