Laura Albritton Bücher

Journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico through the pulsing heart of historic Key West that is Duval Street!Duval Street in Key West, Florida, is one of the most legendary avenues in the United States. This iconic thoroughfare has seen everyone from Ulysses S. Grant to Ernest Hemingway. Collecting remarkable archival photographs, Images of America: Key West's Duval Street features famous buildings such as Key West's Oldest House, St. Paul's Church, the Southernmost House, the Strand Theater, the San Carlos Institute, and La Concha Hotel. Fabled bars and restaurants like Sloppy Joe's and the Bull & Whistle also don this iconic stretch. This book celebrates the irrepressible spirit and heritage of a much-beloved American destination.

The Florida Keys possess a staggering wealth of lighthouses--nine in all, from the remote iron light at Fowey Rocks to classic brick structures at Key West and Loggerhead Key. In the 1820s, the US government began constructing lighthouses to aid mariners navigating the dangerous Florida Reef. While some of the original lights were subsequently destroyed in dramatic circumstances, most that followed, including Carysfort Reef, Alligator Reef, Sombrero Key, Sand Key, and American Shoal, survived intense tropical weather and even major hurricanes. Among the lighthouse keepers were remarkable women who succeeded in a profession usually reserved for men.

The Florida Keys have witnessed all kinds of historical events, from the dramatic and the outrageous to the tragic and the comic.In the nineteenth century, uncompromising individuals fought duels and plotted political upsets. During the Civil War, a company of "Key West Avengers" escaped their Union-occupied city to join the Confederacy by sailing through the Bahamas. In the early twentieth century, black Bahamians founded a town of their own, while railway engineers went up against the U.S. Navy in a bid to complete the Overseas Railroad. When Prohibition came to the Keys, one defiant woman established a rum running empire that dominated South Florida. Join Laura Albritton and Jerry Wilkinson as they delve into tales of treasure hunters, developers, exotic dancers, determined preservationists and more from the colorful history of the Florida Keys.