The Florida Keys were discovered in 1513 by Ponce de Leon and were named Lost Martires, the matyrs, because of their twisted, torturous strips of land
surrounded by turquoise waters. The first settlement was Cayo Hueso, the Isle of Bones, and the name later evolved into Key West. This land belonged to the Spanish until 1821, when Juan
Pablo Salas sold it to John Simonton, a businessman from Mobile, Alabama, for $2,000. Key West was founded in 1822 and by the 1850s had grown to 2,700 people. Most of these people
came from New England and the Bahamas and worked as "wreckers", salvaging millions of dollars of cargo from ships that ran afoul of the reefs. In time, Key West became one of the richest cities in
the Americas.
Other industries followed, only to fade away. Cigar making was big in the 1800s, followed by the sponge industry which finally disappeared in
the 1930s. Turtles were hunted extensively in the Keys until laws were implementing protecting them.
The majority of the Keys were essentially uninhabited until the last quarter of the 19th Century, when hardy Methodist settlers began to carve out
homesteads in the coral, reef, limestone and mangrove swamps.
Economic and commercial development today has been inspired by the Armed Forces' use of Key West as a base, the commercial
shrimp industry and tourism. Many famous people are associated with the Florida Keys - Henry Flagler, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Tennessee Williams, John James Audobon and President
Harry S. Truman.
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