The Last Week of Island Bicentennial Exhibit Key West 200
“Museum visitors who imagine that Key West has always been a tourist destination will be delighted to discover that tourism is only a tiny portion of the story,” says Cory Convertito, curator of Key West 200. “The true breadth, depth and diversity of this island is so much more – a remarkably captivating history to celebrate.”
For the better part of 2022, the Key West Art & Historical Society has been running Key West 200 as the lead display in the Bryan and Bumpus Galleries at the Custom House Museum. The exhibit commemorates the 200th anniversary of the first permanent settlement of Key West in 1822.
Organized by decade, the exhibit highlights so much of what is celebrated today in Key West: the people, culture, and community – beginning with the settlers and government officials who arrived on this remote island in early 1822. It features rarely displayed artifacts that tell the story of the people, industries, migration, culture, and architecture that has shaped Key West over the course of two centuries.
Key West 200 will close on December 11.
