KEYS HISTORY: LOST WRECKS OF THE 1733 NEW SPAIN FLEET
The Spanish treasure fleets sailed away from the Old World for hundreds of years, bringing men and supplies to New World operations. On the trip back to...
LOCAL HISTORY LEGEND LEFT HIS FOOTPRINT ON THE FLORIDA KEYS
Cudjoe Key’s John Viele, age 99, has passed away. He not only lived a long life but left a tremendous footprint on the Florida Keys, the local...
KEYS HISTORY: BROWN ANOLES & CURLY-TAILED LIZARDS AMONG OTHER INVASIVE SPECIES IN THE FLORIDA...
I grew up fascinated by all things that slithered, crept and crawled. As a boy, I kept cages stacked atop the two dressers in my bedroom where...
KEYS HISTORY: FACEBOOK HISTORY GROUP INSPIRES NEW BOOK
“Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, Volume 1,” was not the next book I planned to write. However, the interesting year keeps getting more interesting. The book...
KEYS HISTORY: PRIME HUNTING GROUNDS FOR PIRATES
Black Caesar’s pirate story spans three centuries. What every Black Caesar story has in common, however, is a pirate lair on Elliott Key. Usually, he is either...
TREACHEROUS TRAVELS AT CARYSFORT REEF
A natural-born adventurer, Kirk Munroe traveled extensively. One of those adventures led him to South Florida, where, in 1886, he moved into the growing mainland community of...
FLORIDA KEYS NATIVES: THE HISTORY OF THE CALUSAS & KEY DEER
Hernando D’Escalante Fontaneda was born in Cartagena, Columbia, circa 1535. Sometime around 1548, the boy started to travel from the New World to Spain, where he was...
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...
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: 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...
