Exhibits

After the 1846 hurricane destroyed the original lighthouse at Whitehead Point, the U.S. government began construction on a new tower the following year further inland.  Without modern radar, the lighthouse served as the only warning ships had about the hazardous waters of the Lower Keys. Tending the lighthouse was a dangerous job that demanded the […]

Originally built as a Civil War fortification, Fort East Martello has served several purposes over the years.  Its last role was as a training facility for the Navy and Army during World War II, after which time the Fort fell into disuse and decay.  After extensive restoration, the Society opened it in 1950 to the […]

They said it couldn’t be done – an overseas train to Key West.  Take a journey on the Florida East Coast Railway’s Key West Extension.  Henry Flagler, the Standard Oil tycoon, spent over $30 million of his own money to build a railroad joining mainland Florida to Key West. While the tracks are forever gone, […]

Depicting Hemingway: Guy Harvey Sketches ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ features 59 original pen-and-ink drawings by internationally-renowned marine wildlife artist and conservationist, Guy Harvey.  The sketches follow the narrative of Ernest Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. Widely recognized today as one of the world’s finest marine wildlife artists, […]