In 1873 Fort Jefferson's armament was modernized to include six 15-inch Rodman smoothbore cannon and four 300-pounder rifled Parrott guns. Of the 141 guns listed at the fort when the garrison left in 1874, only those 10 remain here today. The other . . . — — Map (db m193412) HM
In January of 1863, Col. James Montgomery of Kansas was authorized to raise a regiment of troops consisting entirely of free blacks and former refugee slaves. The following month, he arrived in Key West to recruit men for that regiment.
All . . . — — Map (db m224902) HM WM
A&B Lobster House was founded in 1947 by two fishermen, Alonzo Cothron and Berlin Felton, thus the name A&B. The pair were featured in Life Magazine and established a reputation for outstanding seafood fine dining a tradition carried . . . — — Map (db m224457) HM
Maitland Adams began working as secretary for the Key West Box Company on February 21, 1914. The Box Factory, owned by Norberg Thompson, made cedar boxes for the cigar industry. When the cigar industry faltered as Americans started smoking . . . — — Map (db m222914) HM
Near this site lie the remains of 294 African men, women and children who died in Key West in 1860. In the summer of that year the U.S. Navy rescued 1,432 Africans from three American-owned ships engaged in the illegal slave trade. Ships bound for . . . — — Map (db m84722) HM
In memory of all who died because of this chemical.
And pray for those who are still suffering.
Remember Our Sacrifice
1967 Eternity — — Map (db m224878) WM
The cigar industry of Key West dates from 1831, when the first cigar factory was established. After the 1868 Cuban War of Independence, Key Wests cigar manufacturing industry boomed, reaching its zenith at the turn of the twentieth century. In . . . — — Map (db m127501) HM
Alfred Goldsboro Mayor, who studied the biology of many seas and here founded a laboratory for research for the Carnegie Institution directing it for XVIII years with conspicuous success, brilliant versatile courageous utterly forgetful of self. He . . . — — Map (db m9304) HM
Antipiracy Campaign
A major outbreak of piracy in the Caribbean began in 1815 after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. By 1820, it had reached epidemic proportions. In that year, pirates robbed twenty-seven American . . . — — Map (db m224138) WM
Asa Tift, was the son of Captain Amos Tift, one of the early settlers of Key West. He arrived here with his sons in 1825. Amos built a store in Key West that was taken over by Asa and his brothers on the death of their father. They expanded their . . . — — Map (db m222701) HM
Captain John H. Geiger, skilled pilot and master wrecker, built this house in 1830. It is typical of the era when, in 1832, the famed naturalist, John James Audubon, visited Key West to study and sketch the birds of the Florida Keys. On March 18, . . . — — Map (db m81832) HM
Michael Mabelty was appointed Principal Lighthouse Keeper in 1826 for the first Key West Lighthouse. His wife Barbara was hired as the Assistant Keeper. Michael did not serve long - he contracted yellow fever and died. Since his wife was familiar . . . — — Map (db m232473) HM
Welcome to the oldest Roman Catholic Parish in South Florida. There is evidence that Spanish Jesuits serving in Cuba first attempted to establish a mission in Key West as early as 1724.The first Catholic Church on the island was dedicated February . . . — — Map (db m101385) HM
Built by Benjamin Curry, Jr., the brother of Florida's first millionaire, the property has remained in the family for well over a century. His grandson, Beniamin Curry Moreno, was a city engineer responsible for developing Key West's modern roads . . . — — Map (db m223264) HM
Bernie Papy was born the 13th of 14 children in a family of modest means. He left school in the 6th grade to help support his family. In 1924, he entered the real estate business. Later with Victor Moffat and Charles Perez he bought Saunders . . . — — Map (db m223711) HM
Born in Key West, a Conch, "Bra" Saunders began his career as a commercial fisherman. As the demand for sport-fishing guides increased, he became a charter boat fisherman. In the 1930's he was fishing guide for Ernest Hemingway, taking him and his . . . — — Map (db m223742) HM
This is purported to be the second oldest house in Key West. Originally built as a two-room dwelling in 1834 by English merchant captain George Carey, who made his fortune in the wholesale liquor business, the home was enlarged in 1844 as a gift to . . . — — Map (db m222466) HM
Captain John Geiger arrived in Key West as a pilot for Commodore Porter's West Indies Squadron. Porter established the first naval base here in 1823. Captain Geiger remained in Key West after the navy moved to Pensacola. He was the first licensed . . . — — Map (db m222888) HM
Built by Captain Hellings, the manager of the International Ocean Telegraph Co. He married the daughter of William Curry, Florida's first millionaire. The Key West Woman's Club Purchased the home in 1940 and operated one half of the house as the . . . — — Map (db m224206) HM
Carlos Manuel de Cespedes de Cespedes was the son of Carlos M. de Cespedes a lawyer and wealthy Cuban planter who first raised the cry of "Cuba Libre" at his home in Bavamo
Cuba on October 10, 1868. His father is known as the great Liberator and . . . — — Map (db m223681) HM
Key West got its name from
a combination of cultures and
languages. Early Spanish
explorers named the island
Cayo Hueso which translates
in English as Bone Island.
The Tiano of Cuba call a small
island cayo. The . . . — — Map (db m224197) HM
Charles Helberg, a successful Chicago realtor, first visited Key West for a fishing trip during World War I. During one of his many return trips he bought his first real estate in Key West, an abandoned cigar factory at the corner of Flagler Avenue . . . — — Map (db m223562) HM
Charley Toppino came to the United States shortly after the turn of the century. He served in the U.S. Army during WW I. He then worked in construction and stone cutting in New York and Virginia. Toppino returned to his hometown in Canale, Italy . . . — — Map (db m223758) HM
In the middle of the night of January 13, 1861, three days after Florida had seceded from the Union, Capt. James M. Brannan, U.S. Army, marched his troops from their barracks on the northeastern side of the island to Fort Taylor on Key West's . . . — — Map (db m224146) HM WM
Following President Lincoln's order for a naval blockade of Confederate ports in 1861, the U.S. Navy established the East Gulf Blockading Squadron based at Fort Jefferson, Fort Taylor, and the port of Key West. The squadron's area of operations . . . — — Map (db m192413) HM
This monument represents two perspectives on how the Civil War affected the residents of Key West. The obelisk in the center of the memorial plot was erected by the Navy Club of Key West for the Union soldiers who lost their lives in Key West during . . . — — Map (db m85270) HM
After the USS Maine battleship was sunk in Havana, Cuba, in February 1898, the US military strengthened its operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to protect strategically important shipping lanes. This concrete pad is all that . . . — — Map (db m225119) HM
Building #1 is the oldest brick structure in Key West. It was built by the U.S. Navy as a coal depot and storehouse. Navy servicemen coordinated refueling steamships at this location from 1856-1900. During the Civil War, the Union's West Indies . . . — — Map (db m223008) HM
In 1892, a hardware store was constructed to service the surrounding cigar and fishing industry. In 1914 Jack and Rosa Williams opened Jack's Saloon. The saloon was well situated to wet the whistle of sailors, fishermen, and workers. By 1923, the . . . — — Map (db m223374) HM
Cold War
For the first time following a war, the military did not abandon Key West. As relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated, the Navy increased its shore-based and afloat organizations making Key West the largest anti-submarine . . . — — Map (db m224157) HM WM
(Front)
Dedicated to All Men and Women wounded in all our wars
My Stone is Red for
the Blood they Shed
the Medal I Bear
is My Countrys Way
to Show they Care
He who Sheds
Blood with Me
Shall forever be
My Brother . . . — — Map (db m224890) WM
David Porter went to sea in his youth with his father on merchant vessels. He entered the Navy in 1798 as a midshipman serving with distinction in the naval war with France and the war against the Tripoli pirates. He became a national hero during . . . — — Map (db m222905) HM
Built by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a Canadian Order which first established a school here in 1868. Designed by William Kerr of Ireland, of Romanesque style, with dormered, mansard roofs and central tower. In the . . . — — Map (db m101297) HM
Founded in 1864, Cornish Chapel members began building their church in 1885. Designed to resemble European cathedrals, it served as a place of worship, school, and refuge during inclement weather. The foundation was quarried from the site and its . . . — — Map (db m101245) HM
Cuban Missile Crisis
Following the discovery of Russian nuclear missile installations in Cuba on October 15, 1962, large numbers of military troops and aircraft began arriving in Key West while destroyers and submarines in the harbor . . . — — Map (db m224166) HM WM
During October, 1962, United States intelligence sources confirmed Soviet construction of nuclear missile sites in Cuba. This provocation, coupled with the strains of the Cold War, was a direct nuclear threat to the United States. Fearing invasion . . . — — Map (db m192409) HM
Dade County pine is a highly
prized old growth lumber that
was the primary source of
wood used to build most of the
buildings in Key West's
Historic District during the
1800s. It is best known for its
ability to . . . — — Map (db m224176) HM
What do you do if enemy troops land on the beach and start across the moat? Catch them in a crossfire from howitzers in the bastions, which extend outward from the fort's six exterior walls. Howitzers could fire canisters that spewed golf ball-sized . . . — — Map (db m225710) HM
Look around you. From this vantage point, the sea seems to go on forever. Fort Jefferson appears to be in the middle of nowhere. But it is really at the gateway to some out-of-sight landmasses. To the south, 106 miles away, is Cuba. To the east, 68 . . . — — Map (db m225074) HM
J.Y. Porter was educated in the public schools of Burlington, New York. His professional training was at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, PA, from which he graduated in 1870. That year he was appointed an acting surgeon in the United . . . — — Map (db m223716) HM
The Jeptha V Harris family moved from South Carolina to Mississippi, where he attended high school and graduated from the University of Mississippi. Jeptha studied medicine at the University of New York and South Carolina Medical College before . . . — — Map (db m223693) HM
Built as a two story house and later expanded with a rare third-story mansard roof with gabled dormers. Dr. Porter was born here in 1847 and died in the room of his birth 80 years later. Dr. Porter was Florida's first Public Health Officer. His . . . — — Map (db m223438) HM
The Gato Cigar Factory was constructed by Eduardo H. Gato in 1916. This Neo-Classical Revival, poured-concrete structure with a large central courtyard was constructed after an earlier wood frame factory on this site burned. Numerous windows . . . — — Map (db m93305) HM
This is the second Gato cigar factory located on this site. The first structure was a wooden factory built in 1884 and destroyed by fire in 1915. The second factory was built as a hurricane and fire proof structure in 1920. It features large windows . . . — — Map (db m99444) HM
Eduardo Gato was only eight years old when he left his father's home and walked to Havana to begin to learn the cigar business. During the Cuban Civil War, he moved to New York and worked in cigar factories while assisting the revolutionary movement . . . — — Map (db m223720) HM
This house, with its elaborate Queen Anne style detailing, was built c. 1894 by E. H. Gato, Sr. (1847-1926). The Gato family was one of Key West's most prominent families, and three generations of the family lived here until 1951. Eduardo H. Gato . . . — — Map (db m101296) HM
In 1846 Elisabetha Merklin left home in Oberhausen, Germany and sailed for Tampa, Florida to live with an uncle. According to her passport, carried in a tube around her neck, she was a citizen in good standing. The passport said she was leaving for . . . — — Map (db m223552) HM
Ellen Russell immigrated from Ireland to Trinidad when she was 13 years old to live with an uncle. Before she was 16,
she met and married Charles John Mallory, a Connecticut construction engineer. In 1820, the family moved to the United States, . . . — — Map (db m223516) HM
Named in Honor of
A Emma Carrero Cates
Key West City Commissioner 1983-1987
Member of the Monroe County Beach Advisory Board 1988-2001
For her tireless dedication and efforts in renourishment and
preservation of Monroe County . . . — — Map (db m225455) HM
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, IL in 1899. During World War I, Hemingway served as a volunteer in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, at which time he was severely wounded. After the war, he settled in Paris where he was a reporter for the . . . — — Map (db m223772) HM
Built in 1907, the Fire Department consisted of 12 paid firemen and 200 volunteers. It is believed to have been the oldest active fire station in Florida until it's closing in 1998. The Station has endured numerous hurricanes. One of the worst . . . — — Map (db m232016) HM
This is one of three Civil War era forts on the island. Construction began in 1862 making it part of a chain of fortifications that controlled Key West's maritime waterways. The architectural design is a Martello Tower, a Genoese defense system . . . — — Map (db m232191) HM
Fort Taylor was constructed in 1845 as part of the Third Tier System of Defense which called for the establishment of masonry fortresses constructed along Americas coastline to prevent sea attacks upon the United States. This fort was an important . . . — — Map (db m168313) HM
The Dry Tortugas keys sit at the crossroads of biologically rich sea currents, migratory bird routes, and strategic shipping lanes that link the eastern United States with Gulf Coast ports like New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola. From tiny coral . . . — — Map (db m226169) HM
This grand house was constructed by George Henry Curry in 1886. It is one of 7 Curry Mansions in Key West, and built by the children of Florida's first millionaire William Curry. Much of the family's wealth was built on servicing the sailing and . . . — — Map (db m233579) HM
Fort Jefferson, the largest all-masonry fort in the United States, was built between 1846 and 1875 to protect the nation's gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. Supply and subsidence problems and the Civil War delayed construction. Sections of the fort . . . — — Map (db m225108) HM
The 8- and 10-inch columbiads were standard U.S. cannon for coast defense. They were cast-iron, muzzle-loading smoothbores. The 8-inch weighed 9,210 pounds and when elevated 4” threw a 65-pound ball about a mile. From the top of the fort, the . . . — — Map (db m100238) HM
Harbor House, at 423 Front St., ravaged by fire twice in its history, is a two story brick building with a long Key West history. Built in 1885 by George Lewis and George Allen, this structure was home of the Bank of Key West, which the two men had . . . — — Map (db m224924) HM
Harry Truman born in Lamar, MO., was a farmer, army officer, county official and judge in Missouri before his election as a United States Senator in 1934. Truman was elected Vice President when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected for a . . . — — Map (db m222857) HM
Henry Flagler grew up in New York and Ohio and left home to make his fortune at the age of 14. In 1867, with a loan of $100,000 he entered the oil refinery partnership with John D. Rockefeller. They founded Standard Oil Company which by 1884 was the . . . — — Map (db m222870) HM
Henry Flagler grew up in New York and Ohio, and left home at the age of 14 to make his fortune. In 1867 with a loan of $100.000, he entered the oil refinery partnership with John D. Rockefeller that became the Standard Oil Company. By 1884 it was . . . — — Map (db m224555) HM
Cayo Hueso y Habana
Spanish/Cuban Key West
The Spanish Cayo Hueso literally translates to Bone Island, the first name of the island we now know as Key West. It was given by the Spaniards who discovered scattered . . . — — Map (db m231884) HM
Cayo Hueso y Habana
Spanish/Cuban Key West
The Spanish Cayo Hueso literally translates to Bone Island, the first name of the island we now know as Key West. It was given by the Spaniards who discovered scattered . . . — — Map (db m231886) HM
National Park Service rangers, researchers, maintenance workers, and their families live here year-round. Most of them live in small apartments built within the fort's casemates and have their own kitchen, bedrooms, living room, and bathroom. Staff . . . — — Map (db m226170) HM
“...upon occasion of the prevalence of the yellow fever...Samuel A. Mudd devoted himself to the care and cure of the sick and interposed his courage and skill to protect the garrison...from peril and alarm, and thus...saved many valuable lives . . . — — Map (db m9305) HM
This block, which was originally on the water's edge, housed seven structures that supported some of the islands most important industries. There was a large cigar box factory, a sawmill, a building to kiln dry wood, and lumber storage buildings. . . . — — Map (db m222664) HM
This wooden structure was built in the 1880s by a wealthy Charleston merchant. The private residence was well situated in what was then the center of town. In 1908, the owners transformed the house into a hotel in anticipation of the completion of . . . — — Map (db m232330) HM
Dating from the 1840s, the two buildings in the foreground of the photograph are the oldest commercial structures on the island. This photograph was taken from Tift's Tower (modern day Waterfront Playhouse); it shows the rear view of the buildings. . . . — — Map (db m225440) HM
On April 2, 1891, J. Vining Harris, Jr., son of Confederate surgeon Dr. Jeptha Vining Harris (1839-1914), married Florida E. Curry, daughter of Bahamian ιmigrι and Florida millionaire William Curry. The marriage united two of Key West's wealthiest . . . — — Map (db m225438) HM
The fire of 1886 missed this single-family house by 200 feet. A portion of the first floor was rebuilt at the street level in 1889 for a "Gents Goods" store. The storefront saw a succession of commercial uses through the years and the house . . . — — Map (db m223408) HM
Jefferson Browne attended school in Key West but graduated from Kenmore University High School in Amherst, Virginia, in the mid 1870s. He became a lighthouse keeper, at Fowey Rocks Lighthouse for fifteen months where he spent his spare time . . . — — Map (db m222934) HM
Joe Pearlman was born in Romania. He came to Key West in 1904 and became a successful businessman in two unrelated fields, retail sales and construction. In 1916, he opened Pearlman's Quality Store on Duval Street which he operated for
37 years. . . . — — Map (db m223726) HM
John Bartlum began his career as a wrecker in the Bahamas at New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay. By 1835, he was in Key West working as a shipwright. Bartlum was a mechanical genius who never served a day as an apprentice. He acquired his shipbuilding . . . — — Map (db m223724) HM
John Lowe, Jr. arrived in Key West as an infant from the Bahamas, He had little formal education. John went to sea with his father as a child and he earned his ship master's license when he was 13 years old. At 15, he became a clerk for his . . . — — Map (db m223730) HM
John Simonton was a native of New Jersey, with business interests in Mobile, New Orleans, Cuba and Key West. Around 1818, he saw that the Harbor of Key West would become an important seaport when the United States acquired Florida from Spain in the . . . — — Map (db m223755) HM
In this house was born, lived and died Joseph Yates Porter, M.D. 1847-1927.
First health officer of the State of Florida, 1889-1917. Thirteenth president of the Florida Medical Association. Under his farsighted leadership, yellow fever and other . . . — — Map (db m158216) HM
William Marvin grew up on a farm in New York where he attended and taught school before he read law at Bladenbary MD, near Washington. In 1830, he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Maryland and New York. In 1835, he was appointed United . . . — — Map (db m222896) HM
Julius Stone was educated in Ohio and at Harvard University where he received a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry in 1926. From a wealthy family, he became a millionaire in his own right during the 1920s. He lost it all during the crash of 1929. In . . . — — Map (db m223584) HM
A fort's effectiveness in the 1800s depended in large part on its gunpowder supply. Keeping the powder dry and avoiding explosions were critical. This powder magazine's special features included wooden floors and walls to prevent sparks, and vents . . . — — Map (db m193408) HM
Once called the "Gibraltar of the Gulf of Mexico, Key West occupies a vital strategic position in defense of the United States. In 1822, Lieutenant Matthew Perry, U.S. Navy, raised the American Flag over Key West, taking formal charge of the island . . . — — Map (db m226183) HM WM
The Armory was in such
an advanced state of
deterioration by 1969 that
the state granted the city
permission for it's
demolition. Joseph Allen
and State Representative
William Roberts fought to
save the building and . . . — — Map (db m224194) HM
This 1903 armory was described as "an unusual wood-frame building," and was one of the few armories built in the South due to lack of funds following the Civil War (1861-1865). The Italianate-style, Key West Armory incorporates an arched entrance, . . . — — Map (db m85266) HM
Key West Cemetery was founded in 1847 following a hurricane the previous year that destroyed the earlier cemetery located near present day Higgs Beach. To protect from future flooding, the 19-acre cemetery was located here on Solares Hill, the . . . — — Map (db m32660) HM
Power first came to Key West in 1887 when J.J. Philbrick created the Key West Gas and Electric Light Company. A decade later, Curry and Sons started their own power plant. Eventually, these competing companies combined and were purchased by Stone . . . — — Map (db m222988) HM
The first Key West Lighthouse was built in 1825 near the Southernmost Point. A violent hurricane completely destroyed the structure in 1846. The decision was made to construct the new lighthouse inland on Whitehead Street. It was completed in . . . — — Map (db m232477) HM
The Martin Hellings House, constructed c. 1892 by Captain Martin L. Hellings, is one of only a few historic houses in Key West not built of wood. Hellings was a native of Pennsylvania and a Union soldier in the Civil War. In 1881, Hellings married . . . — — Map (db m84718) HM
The Great Fire of 1886 brought
an end to the practice of using
wood shakes for roofing. At
the time, Key West buildings
were mostly wooden
structures built in close
quarters. Afterwards, the City
required metal roofs on new
and rebuilt . . . — — Map (db m192415) HM
Korean War Veterans
In memory of our loved ones who
went forth to face death on land
on the sea and in the air that
mankind might live in freedom
Yandal H. Marable Park Watson Howard Sands Ray Demeritt Hubert Dion Gerald . . . — — Map (db m225769) WM
La Te Da
The home of cigar
manufacturer Teodoro Perez
will forever be a symbol of
Key West's strong ties to
Cuba. On May 3, 1883,
Perez welcomed Josι Martν,
the man who was the
symbol of Cuba's bid for
. . . — — Map (db m222654) HM
Lena Johnson made her living by baking cakes and making pull candy taffy. She lived in a frame dwelling on Division Street (Truman: Avenue). In 1916, when the Boy Scout Troop needed a meeting place she gave them a small frame building at the rear . . . — — Map (db m223747) HM
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