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The Key West Bight, now known as the Key West Historic Seaport, is the site of a 200-year-old global maritime trade base in Key West, Florida, USA. [1] A bend in the shoreline on the northwest side of the island created a bight, a wide bay and naturally protected harbor. [2] Today, the Historic Seaport is the location of restaurants, bars, boutiques, art galleries, museums, hotels, boats, and watersports excursions. [1]
In the mid to late 1800s, sea turtles were a prized commodity and sea turtle consumption was a substantial industry, with tens of thousands of green turtles harvested from Key West waters every year. [3] Sea turtle meat was used in steaks and soups, their skin was turned to leather, and their shells were used in jewelry. At the bight, turtles were kept live in “kraals,” dockside pens, before being butchered, processed, and canned. [3]
Norberg Thompson, founder of Thompson Enterprises and The Thompson Fish Company, began his operations in the turtle industry. [4] He was an influential Key West businessman who significantly developed the bight. During the Great Depression, Thompson employed 40% of Key West, and he went on to become the town's mayor. [5]
In 1973, the Endangered Species Act put an end to harvesting all green sea turtles. [6]
Today, the bight is home to Turtle Kraals restaurant and the Key West Turtle Cannery Museum. [3]
In 1849, the first sponge shipment arrived in New York from Key West. [7] There was great demand for Key West sponges and the industry created 1,200 jobs on 350 sponge fishing vessels, known as "hook boats", based in the Key West Bight. [8] Business dropped off significantly when local waters became depleted and disappeared altogether with the arrival and popularity of artificial sponges.
The Key West sponging industry was the setting of the 1953 film Beneath the 12 Mile Reef. [7]
In 1947, Tortugas pink shrimp were discovered in Gulf waters off Key West. [8] Shrimp trawlers were housed at the bight. The lucrative shrimp industry was known as the “Pink Gold Rush” and the shrimps themselves were called “Key West Pinks.” During this time, Booty Singleton's seafood company, Singleton Packing Corporation, took advantage of the availability of shrimps and became a national name. [9] Because of his success in the industry, Singleton became known as the "Shrimp King". [9] Shrimping continued until the late 1980s when the shrimp population was decimated and shrimpers left Key West. [8]
In January 1999, the bight was officially renamed Key West Historic Seaport and Harborwalk. [1]
One vessel found at the Historic Seaport today is the Western Union , a schooner built in 1939 and the last surviving authentic working tall ship from Florida. It is the flagship of the state of Florida and the city of Key West. [10]
The historic seaport is home to a number of large artworks, including by artists Robert Wyland and Ryan Stimers. Businesses at the seaport include The Waterfront Brewery and Cuban Coffee Queen and the bight is the site of sunset cruises. [1]
In 2018, the Key West Historic Seaport was recognized by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation with the Meritorious Achievement Award for Organizational Achievement. [11]
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it constitutes the City of Key West.
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal point and underwent beautification in 2010. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 25,117 at the 2020 census.
Biscayne National Park is a national park of the United States located south of Miami, Florida, in Miami-Dade County. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is the location of an extensive mangrove forest. The park covers 172,971 acres and includes Elliott Key, the park's largest island and northernmost of the true Florida Keys, formed from fossilized coral reef. The islands farther north in the park are transitional islands of coral and sand. The offshore portion of the park includes the northernmost region of the Florida Reef, one of the largest coral reefs in the world.
Litopenaeus setiferus is a species of prawn found along the Atlantic coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the subject of the earliest shrimp fishery in the United States.
The Golden Isles of Georgia consist of barrier islands, and the mainland port cities of Brunswick and Darien on the 100-mile-long coast of the U.S. state of Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean. They include St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sapelo Island, and Blackbeard Island. The islands are part of a long chain of barrier islands known as the "Sea Islands", located along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida.
The Key West Historic District is a U.S. historic district located in Key West, Florida. It encompasses approximately 4,000 acres (16 km2), bounded by White, Angela, Windsor, Passover, Thomas and Whitehead Streets, and the Gulf of Mexico. It contains 187 historic buildings and one structure.
Bahia Honda is an island in the lower Florida Keys.
Western Union is a historic schooner located in Key West, Florida, United States. She is berthed at the Key West Bight at 202 William Street. Western Union is the last surviving authentic working tall ship built in Florida. On May 16, 1984, Western Union was added to the US National Register of Historic Places. She is also the official flagship of the State of Florida and the flagship of the city of Key West.
The Dr. Joseph Y. Porter House is a historic home in Key West, Florida. It is located at 429 Caroline Street. On June 4, 1973, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Thompson Fish House, Turtle Cannery and Kraals is a historic site located at 200 Margaret Street, Key West, Florida, United States. On June 23, 1994, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Key West Aquarium is the only public aquarium in Key West, Florida, United States. It is located at 1 Whitehead Street and is marked by Historic Marker 52.
Mallory Square is a plaza located in the city of Key West, Florida. It is located on the waterfront in Key West's historic Old Town, adjacent to the cruise ship port. It is located just west of the northern end of Duval Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It runs the entire length of Wall Street. Adjacent to the square are the Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum and the Old Post Office and Customshouse.
The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys. The species has a global distribution that is largely limited to tropical and subtropical marine and estuary ecosystems.
The Bahamas is a net importer of food, importing almost 90% of its food supply. Of food imports, 80% are from the United States.
Placopecten magellanicus, previously listed as Pecten tenuicostatus and as Pecten grandis and once referred to as the "giant scallop", common names Atlantic deep-sea scallop, deep sea scallop, North Atlantic sea scallop, American sea scallop, Atlantic sea scallop, or sea scallop, is a commercially important pectinid bivalve mollusk native to the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
John King Cheyney was a Sponge Company & Sponge Exchange founder, a local politician and a sponge industry promoter in Tarpon Springs, Florida. A memorial on Dodecanese Boulevard commemorates his life. He is listed as a Great Floridian.
The Fogarty Mansion is a historic home in Key West, Florida, United States. It is located at 227 Duval Street and is denoted by Key West Historic Marker 18.
William Joseph Curry was a Key West businessman and Florida's first millionaire.
Thousands of years before European discovery, the island of Key West was largely occupied by the Calusa and Tequesta Native American tribes. Brief settlements by transient Seminoles in the late 18th century introduced temporary trade in the region; early fishing and wrecking revenues became notable amongst passing Natives in the region. The island's first documented discovery by Europeans occurred in 1513 by Spanish explorer Ponce de León while attempting to reach Florida's Gulf Coast. The island soon adopted the Spanish name, Cayo Hueso, literally meaning "bone cay", referring the scattered bones believed to be left behind from warring natives. Although ownership was claimed by the Spanish explorers, no permanent settlement had been established, and possession of the island was briefly asserted by the British in 1763.