KEYS HISTORY: PIRATE BATTLE LEADS TO BLOODSHED
A land-based highway mile, known as a statute mile, measures 5,280 feet. Water-based miles, called nautical miles, are a little bit longer and measure 6,076 feet, making...
KEYS HISTORY: SHIP CAPTAIN CAPTURED BY PIRATE SEEKS HELP FROM ALLIGATOR SCHOONER
Pirate attacks on American ships sailing in foreign waters were nothing unusual in 1822. The Ann Maria, from New York, was victimized by pirates operating in Cuban...
KEYS HISTORY: SHIP CAPTAIN CAPTURED BY PIRATES SEEKS HELP FROM ALLIGATOR SCHOONER
Editor's Note: This is the second part in a series on pirate encounters off the Florida Keys.
Pirate attacks on American ships sailing in foreign waters were...
KEYS HISTORY: SOUTHERNMOST NAVY SQUADRON HAD PLENTY OF PIRATE RUN-INS
Editor's Note: This is part one in a series on run-ins with pirates off the Florida Keys.
Pirate attacks on American ships sailing in foreign waters were nothing...
FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: REEF RAVAGED COVETED NAVY SHIPS
At about 5 a.m. on Nov. 18, 1822, the U.S. schooner Alligator hoisted its sails and began the slow move away from Matanzas, Cuba. It would be...
KEYS HISTORY: SURVEYOR THE FIRST TO PEN BLACK CAESAR’S NAME
Cartographer Bernard Romans named the water feature flowing between Old Rhodes and Elliott Key Black Caesars Creek. The choice was made after the Spanish territory of La...
FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: SPONGE OPERATIONS ON SUGARLOAF KEY, PART 2
Dr. J. Vining Harris of Key West began experimenting with the cultivation of sponges at his Sugarloaf Key property in 1897. Circa 1901, Harris abandoned his sponges...
FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: SOAKING IN A NEW BUSINESS, PART 1
The Feb. 23, 1913, edition of the Washington Evening Star reported the cultivation of sponges in the warm, shallow waters of Biscayne Bay, the waters surrounding Sugarloaf...
FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: FLAMINGO FLOCK DISAPPEARS
The first use of the word flamingo dates back to the Spanish explorers navigating the waters of the New World in 1565. The name flamingo has a...
FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: THE CHUNKY MERMAID
Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Even if he was not the first to “discover” the New World, his four trips across the Atlantic did...
