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Key West Attractions & ActivitiesMuseums
If you're a history buff, art aficionado, archaeology fiend, or dabbler in the sciences, our museum picks are perfect for a rainy day or afternoon excursion! Our selections center around notable collections of historical and cultural items. Many have excellent rotating displays in addition to exceptional permanent collections.
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 511 Caroline St, Key West, FL 33040
William Curry was Key West's first millionaire, and he built this lavish mansion for his family in 1855. The Queen Anne style residence is now an elegant inn but doubles as a museum. The 25 rooms are decorated with period furnishings. The Victorian exterior combines architectural elements that Curry would have seen in his travels – a widow's walk,...
East Martello Museum and Gallery
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 3501 S Roosevelt Blvd, Key West, FL 33040
This structure was constructed in 1862 to protect Fort Zachary Taylor from confederate attack. Now it is an eclectic museum that houses various artifacts from Keys life and history. See found art sculptures by Stanley Papio, woodcarvings by Cuban folk artist Mario Sanchez, a Cuban refugee raft and books by the seven Pulitzer Prize-winning authors...
Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 907 Whitehead St, Key West, FL 33040
Some of the Hemingway's greatest works, including "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "A Farewell to Arms" were composed while he lived in this beautiful Spanish Colonial dwelling. Originally built in 1851, Hemingway purchased the property in 1931 and lived here until his death in 1961. The house was the first on the island to have a swimming pool and...
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 901 Caroline St, Key West, FL 33040
By the time he was 50 years old Henry Flagler was one of the richest men in America. Due to his wife's ill health they spent much of their time in Florida, particularly in the Keys. In 1905 Flagler undertook the mission of building a 130-mile extension of the existing railroad that would reach Key West, which, at the time, was the closest...
Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Site
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: Southard St, Truman Annex, Key West, FL
Plan to spend a day at this 87-acre historic site and park. Arrive early and swim at one of the most pleasant beaches in the Keys. Then shower off and enjoy a picnic lunch. Afterwards, take the ½ hour tour of the fort, which also houses a Civil War museum. Construction began in 1845 and was completed in 1866. This was an active military site...
Harry S. Truman Little White House
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 111 Front St, Key West, FL
Key West has served as a presidential retreat since 1880 when Ulysses S. Grant visited the island. This house belonged to Harry Truman and his wife Bess. Truman reportedly despised living in Washington and viewed this as his sanctuary. The house has been impeccably restored and the presidential bedroom can even be rented for overnight stays.
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 938 Whitehead St, Key West, FL 33040
One of the best views in the Keys is available from atop this 86-foot lighthouse, built in 1847. The light was intended to save lives but it put to death the livelihood of many Key Westers. The "wreckers" that made their fortunes scavenging ships that foundered on the reef were suddenly out of a job. This and other fascinating stories are...
Key West Museum of Art and History
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 281 Front St, Key West, FL
This Richardsonian Romanesque Custom House was built in the 1820s when Key West was designated an official point of entry into the United States. Various exhibits track Key West's ascendancy from port town to richest city in the country. Visitors can see Ernest Hemingway's bloody World War II uniform and they can stand in the room where the U. S....
Key West's Shipwreck Historeum
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 1 Whtehead St, Mallory Sq, Key West, FL 33040
In the 1850s Key West earned the designation of "Richest City in the United States." How this feat was achieved is the focus of this multi-sensory museum. Using historical interpreters, laser shows and films, you will learn about wrecking crews and how they made their fortunes plundering vessels unlucky enough to founder on the reefs around Key...
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum
Category: Museums - Key West Attractions & Activities
Address: 200 Green St, Key West, FL 33040
Mel Fisher became a local hero in 1985 when he excavated treasures from two Spanish galleons that sank off the Key West coast in 1622. You can learn about the artifacts that Fisher recovered including a massive gold bar and a 77.76 carat emerald crystal. There is also an English merchant slave ship dating from the 1700s. Mel passed away in 1998...
