This 1884 bird’s eye view of Key West has spent its whole life in black and white. We have colorized it for the first time since it was drawn 142 years ago. Reproductions of the restored and colorized map are available here. The map was originally made by J.J. Stoner, a Madison, Wisconsin publisher who turned out hundreds of these city views in the late 1800s. There were no airplanes yet. Artists walked the streets, sketched the buildings by hand, then redrew the whole town as if seen from above. What you’re looking at is a city built from the ground up and assembled into a view no one in 1884 could actually see.
Bird’s Eye View of Key West, Florida in 1884 — Now in Color
Bird’s Eye View of Key West, Florida, 1884. Colorized for the first time by KNOWOL.
In 1884, Key West was the largest and richest city in Florida. Cigars built it. Cuban families fleeing the Ten Years’ War had brought the trade north in the late 1860s, and by the 1880s the island held more than 100 cigar factories rolling Cuban tobacco. The map catches the city near its peak, just two years before the fire of 1886 burned out much of downtown and pushed the cigar industry to Tampa. A lot of what you see here didn’t survive that decade.
The map names the places that ran the town: Fort Taylor and the U.S. Naval Depot, the Marine Hospital, the Masonic and Odd Fellows halls, the International Telegraph Office. It also names the storefronts such as McKillip Boots and Shoes, Greaux Watches, Stillman’s Saloon, Sweeny Mineral Water & Beer, Greg’s Cigar Factory, Wellacott’s Ice Cream Parlor. The local institutions and corner shops, drawn with care.
This old map of Key West makes an attractive addition to your office, library, or den, and can be used to teach children the geography and history of the area. The restored map was colorized by KNOWOL, and is currently available only through our shop. Click here to order a reproduction of this vintage map.
