A little island

Key West got its name when it was dubbed Cayo Hueso by early Spanish explorers, who found human bones (hueso) along the shore. That name was eventually corrupted to Key West and the monicker stuck.

In 1820, the island was bought from the Spanish for $2,000, quite a substantial sum in those days, and the purchaser was John Simonton, an Alabama businessman—a canny businessman, it might be added, whose name and descendants live on here and remain a powerful influence in the area.

Pirates were eventually driven out and the island's mixed population of English Bahamians, Southerners and transplanted northerners rose to 2,700, many of them happily engaged in the pursuit of wrecking ships, then salvaging the cargoes.

So profitable was that enterprising career, in fact, that one wrecker, a Bahamian named William Curry, is said to have worked his way to a million dollars, making him Florida's first millionaire and wealthy enough to buy a $100,000 Tiffany table service.

In the 1850s, however, a lighthouse was built, putting a bit of a damper on the wrecking business, and the town's industry began to change. A devastating fire destroyed the town in 1859. About the same time, cigar makers, fleeing war in Cuba, arrived in Key West, where they established a thriving industry. Key West's port was a hot spot, too, and by the 1880s, the city was said to be the wealthiest in the nation.

It was pretty much downhill from there until promoters in these Keys discovered that the real gold in these islands was incessant sunshine, clear seas and iconoclastically bohemian residents, all items of surpassing interest to the winter-weary and the weird watchers. Thus was discovered the gold of tourism.