Key West Shipwreck Museum

Key West Shipwreck Museum

Key West

The Key West Shipwreck Museum combines actors, films, and real artifacts to 'tell the story of 400 years of shipwreck salvage in the Keys', providing a truly unique museum experience for locals and guests alike.

The museum is located within a re-creation of a 19th-century warehouse built by 'wrecker tycoon' Asa Tift, the entire experience allowing you to travel back to 1856, aka 'the era of wreckers'. Discover the local maritime heritage and learn how Key West became the richest city in the US during this time.

The artifacts you will see inside are mostly from the vessel Isaac Allerton, which sank in 1856 on the reef and was rediscovered in 1985. Learn all about how over 100 ships would pass through here daily, with an average of 1 wreck per week on the reef. Climb up the 65-foot lookout tower and yell 'wreck ashore' as they would in the old days, until around 1921, when the wrecking courts were closed and the golden railway era began.

 

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