Key West: The Old and the New (Paperback or Softback)

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary.

The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike.

The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.

I believe that this work contains all the available information on any subject connected with Key West, which is of interest to anyone. Where some trivial matters are mentioned, it is because they throw light on the habits and customs of the times, and may, perchance, brighten what may prove but a prosaic record of events. With this explanation, I leave to posterity this compilation, as a tribute to the ancient order of things, and to the noble band of citizens who made this their home in the days of the Old Key West. Originally published in 1912.