Captain John F. Horr built this vacation home and plantation house around 1877 and lived on the island with his family from 1877 to 1920. During that time, the island was a thriving community with a pineapple plantation, packing plant, and nearby school. A prominent citizen, Horr was a Civil War veteran, a Collector of Customs for the Port of Key West, a U.S. Marshal, and the Republican nominee for Secretary of State of Florida in 1900. He retired to Ohio in 1920 and sold the island in 1923.