Brad Bertelli
Brad Bertelli is a respected historian, author, speaker, and Honorary Conch based in the Florida Keys. Since arriving on Plantation Key in 2001, he has dedicated over 20 years to researching and interpreting the history of the island chain.
Brad has published 10 books, including his acclaimed series Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli (Volumes 1, 2, and 3), with Volume 4, The Great Florida Keys Road Trip, forthcoming.
For regular updates on local history, you are invited to join the Facebook group “Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli.” To learn more, please visit: www.bradbertelli.com.
KEYS HISTORY: FLORIDA KEYS’ BAHIA HONDA ISLAND BUSTLED WITH ACTIVITY
The first surveyor general for British East Florida, William Gerard de Brahn, named the island Rice Island on his 1772 chart. The island’s Spanish...
KEYS HISTORY: MOSQUITOES BROUGHT MISERY & DISEASE TO FORMER UNION PRISON AT FORT JEFFERSON
The Dry Tortugas represent the tail end of the archipelago called the Florida Keys. In 1908, they were declared a wildlife refuge, in part,...
KEYS HISTORY: TAVERNIER’S DOC LOWE WAS A MAN OF MANY HATS
Edward R. Lowe was born circa 1882 and first arrived in the Florida Keys following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. During the war,...
KEYS HISTORY: SNAKE HUNTER & REVOLUTIONARY SEWER BROUGHT AN ATTRACTION TO MARATHON
Alma Cagle Bishop was born on June 9, 1902, and grew up in what she called the Texas boondocks. She hunted snakes on the...
KEYS HISTORY: THE STORY OF SPANISH MARIE RUM RUNNER
By every account, Marie was quite a woman. Born in 1903 to a Swedish father and Mexican mother, she grew up to be 6...
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