Description
Keys History & Discovery Center occupies a two-story, 7,500 square foot facility located in the heart of Islamorada on the property of the Islander Resort and is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Permanent exhibits include First People/Indians, Pirates/Wreckers/Salvagers, Spanish Treasure Fleets, Legends of the Line, and a permanent model replica of Indian Key circa 1840. Stories of the Upper Keys encompasses Henry Flagler’s Over-Sea Railway, the Overseas Highway, and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, as well as the people who carved niches for themselves and their families from a considerably more inhospitable string of islands than the sub-tropical paradise we live in today. The Coral Reef Exploration exhibit, developed in partnership with Mote Marine Laboratory, comprises three aquariums showcasing our unique coral reef ecosystem and the challenges it faces.
Additional exhibits include a 16th century cannon salvaged from a wreck off American Shoal lighthouse and a 18th century anchor from the 1733 New Spain fleet. And through a partnership with Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, we have an exhibit featuring the importance of the sport fishery and the habitat in which they live.
The second floor of the museum operates as a rotating exhibit space and is also where you’ll find the Jerry Wilkinson Research Library and a 35-seat movie theater that features documentaries relevant to Upper Keys history and ecology.
