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William Joseph Curry was born in 1821 on Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas. He arrived in Key West from the Bahamas in 1837 at age 16. [1] Like many "conchs", he was a poor white Bahamian who immigrated to Key West for economic opportunity. When he arrived in Key West, it was then the wealthiest town in the state. [2]
The Key West and Sand Key lighthouses were destroyed by a hurricane in 1846. A lightship was placed at Sand Key until the lighthouses could be rebuilt. Beginning in 1852 lighthouses were built directly on the Florida Reef, but it was 1880 before mariners could rely on having a lighthouse in sight at all times while sailing along the Florida Reef.
Key West is closer to Havana (about 106 miles or 171 kilometers by air or sea) [8] than it is to Miami (130 miles or 210 kilometers by air or 165 miles or 266 kilometers by road). [7] Key West is the usual endpoint for marathon swims from Cuba, including Diana Nyad's 2013 swim [33] [34] and Susie Maroney's 1997 swim from within a shark cage. [35]
For many years, Key West was the largest town in Florida, and it grew prosperous on wrecking revenues. The isolated outpost was well located for trade with Cuba and the Bahamas and was on the main trade route from New Orleans. Improved navigation led to fewer shipwrecks, and Key West went into a decline in the late nineteenth century.
Many went to Florida to work in agriculture or to Key West to labor in fishing, sponging, and turtling. Two main factors that contributed to increased Bahamian migration were the poor economic climate and opportunities in the Bahamas, as well as the short distance from the Bahamas to Miami.
It resorted to using aircraft "wet leased" from and operated by Big Sky Airlines to operate flights from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and to St. Petersburg, Florida. [14] Chalk's added flights between Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA) and destinations in the Bahamas in late May 2007, but carried only 14 passengers through PBIA that August. [3]