Diver Kelly Morgan surveys remains of side-wheel paddles from the steamship 'Menemon Sanford,' lost off Key Largo in 1862.
As underwater archaeology students carefully measured remains of the historic paddlewheeler scattered on the ocean floor off Key Largo, a tiny fish -- a blue-headed wrasse -- defiantly defended its territory.
Posted - Saturday, August 09, 2008 08:30 AM EDT
Fishing the Florida Keys —This photo is undated but likely was taken in 1909 from a wharf somewhere along the western margin of the Key West Bight, now known as the Historic Key West Seaport. It shows extensive damage to the waterfront and watercraft in the wake of a severe hurricane. The storm of Oct. 11, 1909, might have been the cause. But the photo might also date from the hurricane of Oct. 17, 1910.
Posted - Sunday, August 10, 2008 07:41 AM EDT
In his 1972 biography of Ernest Hemingway, James McLendon talks of Key West as the place where Hemingway became Hemingway. It was here that he came to love the sea, where he wrote most of “A Farewell to Arms,” and where he began to gather up the inspiration for what would become his most famous work, “The Old Man and the Sea,” a simply-told and tragic story of a fisherman’s battle with a giant marlin.
Posted - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:07 AM EDT
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Tavernier. The French name stands out among the Keys’ islands and towns that carry more common Spanish and Native American titles.
Posted - Thursday, September 04, 2008 03:07 PM EDT
At about 2 a.m. on September 10, 1960, the Keys experienced hurricane Donna, which had a force comparable to that of hurricane Andrew. It made landfall in the Marathon area, centered on Key Vaca as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It had estimated maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts of up to 180 mph with a storm surge of 13 feet.
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
Irving Eyster has spent more than 60 years studying the history and archaeology of the Florida Keys.
Irving Eyster’s interest in archaeology started when he was growing up in Indiana. He and his grandfather would go looking for old mill remains or houses that had long been abandoned.
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
Bettye and Jim Chaplin have built their lives on real estate in Marathon.
Marathon’s Bettye Chaplin says her success in the real estate business can likely be traced back to the impact a famous scene in the classic 1939 movie “Gone With the Wind” had on her mother, Lida Bateman.
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
Archaeologist Duncan Mathewson holds the gold chalice that Mike DeMar of Blue Water Ventures just found at the Santa Margarita. They estimate its value at more than $1 million.
Keys archaeologist Duncan Mathewson wasn’t surprised when he heard an idea to attach metal detectors to dolphins in the hopes they would uncover treasure buried beneath the Caribbean sand.
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
Painter Harry J. Sonntag left New York in the 1940s to get away from other artists.
In 1992, collectibles dealer Chuck Faulkner made an unusual discovery in a bag that was discarded from a storage unit in Kissimmee. It was filled with close to 170 paintings by Harry J. Sonntag, who was also known as the “Hermit Artist of Key Largo.”
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
Pete Cavanah ŇretiredÓ to Marathon in 1950.
Marathon’s Pete Cavanah has seen a lot of technology come and go during his 87 years, first in Chicago during the heyday of radio, and later in the Keys as the new medium of television began to gain in popularity.
Posted - Sunday, July 13, 2008 03:00 AM EDT
