KEYS HISTORY: COIN DISCOVERIES SEND KEYS INTO A FRENZY
Stumbling upon an old story of buried treasure is always a thrill. Stumbling upon a real buried treasure would be super cool, but that requires a different...
KEYS HISTORY: WIFE OF RIGHTER PERKY MADE HER OWN NEWS
Helen Nellie Davis was no wallflower. She was born on Dec. 11, 1879, in Baltimore. Because her story is more interesting and complicated than can be told...
KEYS HISTORY: LOWER KEYS BAT TOWER WAS A ROADSIDE ATTRACTION
In 1879, Richter Clyde Perky was born to parents living in Denver, Colorado. The boy grew up, moved east and began dealing in the South Florida and...
KEYS HISTORY: STORIES OF SOUTHERNMOST SKUNK APE
When you write a book about a local cryptid called the Skunk Ape, stories find you.
The Skunk Ape is Florida’s Bigfoot and a legendary presence in South...
KEYS HISTORY: THE ISLAND CHAIN BEARS A VARIETY OF FRUITS
One of the best early accounts of aboriginal life in the Florida Keys was in a memoir by Hernando De Escalante Fontaneda. As a boy, Fontaneda was...
KEYS HISTORY: CORAL ROCK WALL ON LIGNUMVITAE KEY BRINGS HISTORICAL INTRIGUE
The Spanish have been influencing the Florida Keys since shortly after the New World was discovered — indeed, since Ponce de Leon sailed past in 1513.
It was...
KEYS HISTORY: EARLY PIONEER JOHN ‘BRUSH’ PINDER’S LIFE ON THE FARM & SCHOONER
This Florida Keys story begins and ends in Key West. Like many told about the archipelago, it reaches well beyond a single island.
The story is mainly about...
KEYS HISTORY: ALLIGATORS WERE NEAR THE ISLAND CHAIN WELL BEFORE THE BLUE HOLE ON...
One of my favorite things about driving across Florida’s peninsula, traveling between the Keys and the west coast (preferably to Sanibel or Captiva islands), is spotting alligators.
Whether...
KEYS HISTORY: EARLY PIONEERS HAD A DIFFERENT NAME FOR THIS CRUSTACEAN
If you are not following my Facebook group, Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, then you are missing out on daily doses of great local history. One...
KEYS HISTORY: A 1920S ANTI-MOSQUITO MOVEMENT SWELLS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
Before diving into this 20th-century mosquito story, I need to backtrack. In last week’s 19th-century mosquito story, I referred to yellow fever and malaria as the same....
