A window into life in Key West in the 19th and early 20th centuries is now available online, through the Monroe County Public Library’s Florida Keys History Center. A collection of historic newspapers has recently been posted on the Center’s online catalog.
The earliest newspaper in the collection is The Key West Register from 1829, just a few years after the island was permanently settled and incorporated as a town. The American flag was first raised over Key West by a U.S. Navy crew in 1822 and the territory of Florida established Monroe County in 1823.
Other papers include The New Era from 1862, The Key West Dispatch from 1874, and one edition of The Key of the Gulf from 1882. The most recent edition in the collection is The Key West Citizen reporting on the opening of the Overseas Highway in 1938 with the banner headline “Key West In Nation’s Spotlight.”
“Though our collection is only a small sample of the many newspapers published during Key West’s first century, it is remarkable that we have what we do,” said Dr. Corey Malcom, lead historian at the Florida Keys History Center. “It is so nice to have these early issues digitized and readily available. Now anyone can read news that concerned the wreckers, what was happening in Key West during the Civil War, or what it was like when the first train arrived in 1912.”
Malcom said he finds much that is fascinating in the newspapers, but his favorite part is the advertising.
“They show what commercial life was like here 100 or 200 years ago, and what businesses were where, but we can also see details like what movies were playing on the island at the dawn of cinema,” he said. “Plus, many of the illustrations they used are just great!”
The preservation and digitization of the papers is another example of why the Florida Keys History Center is the foremost archive for documents and photographs of Keys history, said Kimberly Matthews, Monroe County’s Director of Libraries.
“Our staff works diligently to save and share these unique portals into the past of the Keys,” Matthews said. “On an island chain where things change fast, we are making sure that our history is documented and accessible to the public.”
To see the newspapers, go to keyslibraries.org/keyshistory and click “Our Collection.” Each issue opens as a downloadable PDF file.
The Florida Keys History Center is located at the Key West Library branch, currently closed for roof replacement. History Center staff are available by email and phone to help with research requests. Along with the historic newspaper collection, almost 25,000 historic photos and more historic resources are available at keyslibraries.org/keyshistory.
