This Week on the Island 12/28/2014

‘This Week on the Island’ is written by Doug Bennett and is an update to friends about happenings in Key West last week. Everything is true except for those parts that are lies.

Weather: It is supposed to be the Dry Season, but we got lots of rain this week.

This week I finished reading ‘1421 The Year China Discovered America’ by Gavin Menzies.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

The end of the year is the time everyone likes to look back over the events of the past year and hope for a better next year. SO, here’s looking back at Key West.

One of the oldest maps I can find of Key West. When the U.S. got Florida from the Spanish there were two towns in the entire state and they were St. Augustine and Key West. Florida became a U.S. territory in 1822. This is a 1827 map. Note the salt ponds on Duval Street.

Key West after the great fire of 1886 when the town burn to the ground and the only fire truck was in New York for repairs. Note the ships in the harbor in the background.

Key West map showing the dredge and fill of the 1950’s as it built the land around Fort Zack that used to be surrounded by water. The bottom left corner also shows what will be Sunset Key. Note: If you look at the bottom of the picture you will see the building of the Fort Zack Park.

This is the old 7-mile bridge and the part of the bridge that moved to let ships thru. This is what Jo and I crossed on our way to Key West in 1971.

This is the old shrimping days with the shrimp boats docked in Key West Bight where Dante’s’ is now. Note Christmas Tree Island in the background.

This is the Truman Waterfront when the Navy still owned it.

How about old Blue Heaven.

And we leave you at the old Southernmost Point in the continential U.S.

Key West you have got to love it
'Close to Perfect, far from Normal’
Doug Bennett
Lat 24.5591N, Long 81.8016W

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