Who owned Key West before the US?

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.



People Also Ask

Originally inhabited by Native American tribes, The Spanish claimed The Keys during Ponce de León's 1513 expedition. They saw little of value in the stony islands, but they mapped and named The Keys to help their ships navigate The Florida Straits as they carried gold and silver from the New World to the old one.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

Wisteria Island, also known as Christmas Tree Island, is a federally owned, uninhabited island in the lower Florida Keys 645 yards (590 m) northwest of the northwestern corner of the main island and city of Key West, Florida, Monroe County, United States.

MORE DETAILS