The Conch Republic was born on April 23, 1982 in response to a United States Border Patrol Blockade of the Florida Keys. In response to this clear affront, Mayor Dennis Wardlow moved to secede from the Union. Today we stand proudly as a community who have a “Sovereign State Of Mind” and as the “People who seceded where others have failed.”

On April 23rd, the Conch Republic flag was raised over city hall and the Schooner Western Union, under the command of Captain John Kraus. The “Conchs” attacked the US Coast Guard Cutter with water balloons, conch fritters, and stale Cuban bread. The Coast Guard retaliated with fire hoses and thus commenced the Great Battle of the Conch Republic. Prime Minister Wardlow surrendered and demanded foreign aid from the United States. The roadblock was quietly removed, and the glorious Conch Republic was born.