KEYS HISTORY: ‘ALLIGATOR’ LIBERATES SHIPS FROM PIRATES
The U.S. Schooner Alligator cultivated a rich story over its short life. It begins in the Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, where the 86-foot long ship-of-war was...
KEYS HISTORY: TRUMAN LITTLE WHITE HOUSE MARKS 30 YEARS AS STATE HISTORIC SITE
Key West’s Truman Little White House on Nov. 8 celebrated the 30th anniversary of its dedication as a state historic site and museum.
On that day in 1991,...
KEYS HISTORY: SAND KEY LIGHTHOUSE SAVED LIVES & MARKS THE DECLINE IN WRECKING INDUSTRY
The Havana Hurricane of 1846 is thought to be the first recorded Category 5 hurricane to strike Cuba. As the storm crossed the Straits of Florida, it...
KEYS HISTORY: NOVELIST DETAILS BLACK CAESAR SECRETS
A story republished in “The Jackson Standard” on April 22, 1858 is one of the oldest on record that addresses a pirate named Black Caesar, who ruled...
KEYS HISTORY: CONTROVERSIAL CHECKPOINT BY FEDS LEADS TO CONCH REPUBLIC FORMATION
All hail the Conch Republic, a shelltastic micronation culled from the drastic need for some serious media spin.
It was 1982, and the war on drugs had officially...
AN A & B STORY: FAMILY LEAVES MARK ON THE ISLAND CHAIN
This column appears weekly because the Florida Keys have more to offer than great fishing and diving, fantastic weather, spectacular sunsets and world-famous drinking establishments.
Monroe County and...
KEYS HISTORY: LIEUTENANT DECLARES U.S. POSSESSION OF KEY WEST SOME 200 YEARS AGO
When East Florida and West Florida were still Spanish territories, they were wild, sparsely-populated frontiers.
The Spanish had established two ports. On the Atlantic coast, there was the...
KEYS HISTORY: APIARY BUSINESS BUZZES IN KEY LARGO
Key Largo’s Stellrecht Point, found on the bayside in the area of MM 105, is named for a German immigrant named Otto Stellrecht. Stellrecht was born in...
KEYS HISTORY: 2 LARGE KEYS PROPERTY SALES OF 1946
I recently spent some quality time in a third-floor room at the public records office on Whitehead Street. The repository holds the documentation of every property deed...
KEYS HISTORY: SALVAGE ACT OF 1823 BRINGS ORDER TO LAWLESS INDUSTRY SEEN IN THE...
I started a Facebook page the day before Christmas Eve and decided to call it Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli. Fifteen years of study have revealed...
