This Week on the Island 10/16/2022

 

‘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.

 The Weather: It is the middle of October and it still is hot and humid in the middle of the day, but the weather is nice at night.

September starts the quiet time on the island and it last until the end of October. With Halloween comes Fantasy Feist and the island gets packed. So, with not much happening this week I decided to post some old pictures of Key West.

Key West in 1838. This is Whitehead Street and the intersection of Front Street where the old Customs house is today. Note that there is no Duval Street but there is a big pond.

Key West in 1862 was a Union outpost in the Civil War. Fort Zack was occupied by the Union and blocked the ships trying to get to Mobil, New Orleans, and Houston.

Key West 1886. Lots of downtown burned.

Key West 1887. You see Fort Zack surrounded by water, the pond was filled and Duval Street was built. A lot of improvements since the war.

Key West 1930. Flagler built his Over Seas Railroad. He needed land that wasn’t here so he dredged and filled Trombo Point. It is now occupied by the US Navy.

Key West 1936. Duval Street.

Key West 1940. The federal government improved US#1 (North Roosevelt) into Key West by building it with water on both sides. The right side was filled and developed.

Sunset Key when it was Tank Island. Built and owned by the Navy and used to store fuel for ships. You can also see Christmas Tree Island when it was Wisteria Island in the background.

We leave you with ‘Easy like Sunday morning’. 

 

Key West

Close to Perfect, Far from Normal’

GDougBennett@att.net