FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY: ALL ABOUT THE ‘ENGLISH’
Richard Fitzpatrick served as president of the Florida Territorial Council during the January 1836 session. It was Fitzpatrick who introduced the bill that split Monroe County in...
THE STORMS WE REMEMBER
For locals who lived through both Hurricanes Wilma and Irma — two of the most destructive storms in the Florida Keys in recent memory — the differences...
1823: WHEN A FEW ‘BAD APPLES’ SPOILED THE WRECKING TRADE
1823 was a big year for the Florida Keys. New waves of wreckers were arriving to try their luck on the Florida Reef. Two of these men...
KEY WEST MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS HONOR THOSE WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
Key West’s active-duty military, veterans organizations and their supporters coordinated three Memorial Day events to honor the fallen on May 31.
The USS Maine Memorial at the city...
THE SECOND STAGE OF OVERSEAS HIGHWAY’S DEVELOPMENT
In November 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected for the first of his four terms as president. Roosevelt inherited the Great Depression. One of his first acts...
THE PAST LIVES ON: THE OLD KEY WEST JAIL WILL BE A MUSEUM
The fifth version of the Key West jail in Jackson Square on Whitehead Street was built in 1892 after a fire had reduced much of the island’s...
A TALE OF OVERSEAS HIGHWAY’S BEGINNINGS
It is undeniable that Henry Flagler’s Over-Sea Railroad altered the history of the Florida Keys. One of the things it accomplished, at least for islanders who had...
A TIMELINE: HOSPITAL AT COMMUNITY’S CENTER SINCE ‘60S
2021 : The grand opening of Fishermen’s Community Hospital is set for June 7.
2020 : In June, the last beam is lifted into place and major construction...
Keys’ roads started out in patchwork fashion
Sept. 1, 1854, was a Friday. It was also the day George Whiting Allen was born. The Allen family would move from Jacksonville, Florida, where George was...
WHO NAMED THE KEYS? ORIGINS AS QUIRKY AS THE INHABITANTS
There are 1,000 origin stories behind the names given to the Florida keys, and countless people have contributed to them. One of those was Charles Brookfield. He...