KEYS HISTORY: WRECKING, SPONGING & CIGAR ROLLING WERE THRIVING INDUSTRIES ON THE ISLANDS
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a four-part series on Monroe County’s 200th year.
When the second escalation of the Seminole War erupted in 1835, fear spread...
KEYS HISTORY: TRANSPORTATION EVOLVED FROM PORTS TO TRACKS IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a four-part series on Monroe County’s 200th year.
Transportation improvements played a vital role in the development of Monroe County in...
KEYS HISTORY: ISLAND CONFLICTS LEAD TO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
Monroe County has seen significant change over the last 200 years, and has been affected by a few wars. Maybe the first was the Seminole War which...
KEYS HISTORY: UNRELIABLE FERRIES PROMPT ROAD CONSTRUCTION BETWEEN ISLANDS
The Key West Extension of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway did not bring loads of tourists to the island chain. The building of State Road 4A,...
KEYS HISTORY: FIESTA KEY HAD A CAROUSEL OF NAMES
Fiesta Key connects to the Overseas Highway near MM 70. The island has been called a name or two, which is nothing unusual in the Florida Keys.
One...
KEYS HISTORY: POSSIBLE MISTYPE BRING QUESTIONS OVER NORTH KEY LARGO PROPERTY SALE IN THE...
The Florida Keys have a tremendous history. It’s one of the reasons people – like Cori Convertito, curator at the Key West Art & Historical Society; Corey...
KEYS HISTORY: THIS MIDDLE KEYS ISLAND WAS KNOWN FOR FARMING BEFORE BECOMING A RAIL...
Knights Key is found at the foot of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Middle Keys and is included under the Marathon umbrella. Not everyone is as...
KEYS HISTORY: THIS ISLAND WAS KNOWN FOR PIGEON FLOCKS & A RAILROAD WORKER HUB
In the Florida Keys, we all have our favorite islands. My favorite, Indian Key, has an incredible story, and I have written an inordinate number of columns...
KEYS HISTORY: SHARK PROCESSING PLANT BROUGHT TALES & SMELLS TO BIG PINE KEY
Big Pine Key is found a couple of islands south (or really west) of the Seven Mile Bridge, and is one of the Lower Keys. It is...
KEYS HISTORY: PRESERVING OLD WATER COLLECTION SYSTEMS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
Several months ago, I was invited to one of the local Key Largo schools to talk with some students about the use of cisterns in early pioneer...
