The Port of Key West

At one end of the route across the Florida Straits sits Key West. Around 1915, an aerial photographer caught this view of the island's waterfront.

At the far right of the picture, just above the center, is Mallory Square. A ship is moored at the same pier used today by cruise ships calling at the Port of Key West. Above that dock - heading out into a semicircle - is the seawall created by the Navy to enclose the submarine pens. Just above that semicircular wall is Fort Taylor.

At the bottom of the picture, the three-pronged construction is Flagler's Trumbo Point - part of the 140 acres of landfill built to accommodate the train and steamship docks. Just above it, boats of all sizes occupy what's known today as the Historic Seaport.

Key West's value as a seaport was first recognized by John Simonton in 1824, when he contacted the U.S. government to inform them of his island's 36-foot-deep port. Its days as an active commercial and military seaport have never ended.

Next: Henry Plant, Key West's First Henry