Industry
For roughly four hundred years, wrecking and salvage in the Florida Keys formed a vital part of Key West’s economy and identity. Dangerous reefs sent ships onto the rocks, and recovering their cargoes created wealth and employment during the period when Key West had Florida’s largest population. This history is tied to Asa Tift, whose nineteenth-century warehouse is re-created here, and to major wrecks such as the Isaac Allerton, lost in 1856 and later linked to the largest salvage award ever granted by the Federal Wrecking Court for a single vessel. Relics from Spanish galleons and a lookout tower evoke the long, hazardous maritime world that shaped the island’s past.
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Key West, Florida · United States
