In 1853, a brig carrying a locomotive bound for New Orleans wrecked off the Florida Keys. Remarkably, Key West’s wreckers were able to recover the engine.
In the summer of 1852, a steamship that had suffered a cholera outbreak was refused entry to Havana and Key West and was forced to bring its passengers and crew, both the sick and the healthy to Sand Key, five miles from Key West.
Key lime pie is the island’s signature dessert now, but decades ago coconut cake was king – and a favorite of visiting presidents.
A Spanish treasure fleet wrecked off the Florida Keys in 1733, leading to the first newspaper reporting from the Florida Keys.
The story of Cuban exile Juana Borrero Pierra – who died in Key West in 1896 at the age of 18 – is that of a precociously gifted poet and painter, but it is also a potent reminder of the deep and strong connections between Key West and Cuba – ties that forever bind the islands’ cultures.
The construction of the last substantial tall ship built in Key West in 1938 and ’39, from the laying of the keel to its final trial run, was documented in the Key West Citizen.
Slavery was part of Florida Keys culture from the time of the first American settlement in 1822. But Key West’s status as a Union stronghold meant the slavery and emancipation story played out quite differently from other parts of Florida or the U.S.
Over two days in December 1927, a Jacksonville car dealer and a race car driver made the first automobile journey from Miami to Key West – driving over railroad tracks for a large segment of the trip.
Dr. Lemuel W. Livingston arrived in Key West in 1888. He served as principal of Douglass School, as the island’s first Black physician and pharmacist – and documented life on the island for northern publications.
Crazy Ophelia’s Cafe was not open for long, but it was the site of one of Jimmy Buffett’s first Key West gigs – and the first place he performed “Margaritaville.”