Was Key West a pirate town?

The Florida Keys' seafaring history, shaped by pirates and wreckers and treasure hunters, still lives in magnificent vessels like the Schooner Wolf. In 1822, when Key West was a brand-new seafaring settlement, the U.S. government sent Commodore David Porter to banish pirates from area waters.



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Key West, or Cayo Hueso (Island of Bones) was discovered by Ponce de Leon, named Las Martines and claimed by Spain in 1513. In 1815 Don Juan de Estrada granted Key West to Juan Pablo Salas for meritorious service to the crown. John W. Simonton, from Alabama, bought the island from Salas for $2,000 in 1821.

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Spanish settlers originally called Key West Cayo Hueso, which translates to bone island, referring to the bones of the Calusa Indians who had once lived in the Florida Keys. English speakers mistook Cayo Hueso, thinking it sounded like Key West and the name stuck.

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Our history of a permanently settled island began on January 19, 1822 when John W. Simonton of Alabama purchased Key West from Juan Pablo Salas for the handsome sum of $2,000; the latter had acquired it as a Spanish Land Grant in 1815 for his service to the Spanish crown.

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Thanks to the shallow reefs just offshore Old Town and the expansive territory of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, industries like wrecking, salvaging, salt manufacturing and turtling made Key West the richest city in the United States per capita during the mid-1800s.

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The name Key West is actually a misnomer. Spanish settlers originally called Key West Cayo Hueso, which translates to bone island, referring to the bones of the Calusa Indians who had once lived in the Florida Keys. English speakers mistook Cayo Hueso, thinking it sounded like Key West and the name stuck.

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