By Nancy Klingener and Breana Sowers
One of the best parts of living in the Keys, whether you were born here or arrived last month, is daily immersion in the history of the island chain and what people have built here over the last 200 years.
You can learn a lot about the community from the archives at the Monroe County Public Library’s Florida Keys History Center (FKHC) – where staff is constantly putting more resources online so they are accessible even if you can’t make a trip to our physical location at the Key West library. You can find those resources at keyslibraries.org/keyshistory.
One common inquiry, especially among those who have recently bought a home, is to learn the history of the house. When was it built? What did it look like in the past? When were additions made? Who lived there and what did they do?
The homes in Key West, especially Old Town Key West, are the best documented. The Old Town neighborhood was designated on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and has been governed by the guidelines of the city’s Historic Architectural Review Commission. But if you are interested in a house outside of that area, don’t give up hope.
One good place to start is the FKHC’s online image archive, aka the Flickr site. You can get there from the History Center home page, or use this shortcut: bit.ly/keyspix. Enter an address into the search box (pro tip: make sure you use the search box next to the photo gallery, NOT the one at the top of the page – that one will provide results from the millions of photos on Flickr, not just the Keys). The FKHC collection includes many photos of buildings, including photos taken in the 1960s by the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s Office.
Take 322 Duval St. as an example. That’s the Watlington residence, now known as the Oldest House, owned by the state of Florida and managed by the Old Island Restoration Foundation. It’s better documented than most, but those documents include the property appraiser’s photo from the 1960s.
Next stop for a historic house in Key West: the Sanborn maps. These were incredibly detailed, large-scale maps made for fire insurance agents. They show different buildings and additions to the property over time as well as the material they’re made of — wood, brick, concrete. Sanborn maps for Key West are on the Library of Congress website. You can find them under “Links We Like” on the FKHC homepage.
You can find the property on the map and then compare different years to see additions and other changes.
The Sanborn Fire Maps were created in the 1800s and updated regularly for fire insurance companies. The maps identify each property in each block of Old Town Key West and note their construction material — wood, brick, stone or concrete — to determine fire risks. FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY CENTER/Monroe County Public Library
1892:
1912:
If you really want to dig deep, you should visit the Florida Keys History Center itself. It’s generally open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, but if you’re planning a special trip, it’s a good idea to call or email first to make sure staff will be available to help. You can email history@monroecounty-fl.gov or call 305-809-5260.
Documents in the center’s collection include property cards, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, deed books, architectural surveys, tax rolls, and city directories that can help patrons piece together a small bit of their home’s history.
We do not have interior photos (unless it is more of a landmark). We have a collection of binders that may already have some background – especially if they have been in the Key West Citizen for a home tour, renovation or a special resident. And we have non-circulating books that dive deep into architecture, historic homes and popular city figures.
The information on any particular home varies quite a bit, depending on where it’s located. Homes in the older, well-documented, or historic neighborhoods will have more extensive records. Areas developed later, outside of the historic district, or further up the Keys will have fewer materials available. Outside of Key West, we have property cards, online aerials and select phone books.
Don’t expect everything to pop up instantly. The process for finding house, or property, information is a bit piecemeal and it can take some time to go through the documents.
Before you visit, it’s a good idea to go first to the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s website. The numbers affiliated with a property parcel will be used to look up deeds or tax rolls
If you really want to dig into the histories of who lived at the house, city directories can provide that information, and then you can check resources like FamilySearch, Genealogy Bank, Find a Grave, and our Key West Citizen index. They can provide more contextual information about the previous families, using census records, newspaper articles and obituaries.
If you want to keep going, the FKHC only has a collection of what has been donated. We don’t have all city and county deeds (especially more recent, after the 1910s/1920s), maps or surveys. The county courthouse records office holds a more complete collection of deed microfilm and plat maps.
Nancy Klingener is community affairs manager at the Monroe County Public Library.
Breana Sowers is senior archivist at the Monroe County Public Library’s Florida Keys History Center.
