African Cemetery — Local services in Key West

In 1860, 3 illegal slave ships–the Wildfire, the William and the Bogota–were intercepted by the U.S. Navy and diverted to Key West. Over 500 Africans were rescued from the Wildfire, 513 rescued from the William, and 407 were rescued from the Bogota. The Key West community was so appalled at the treatment of the “cargo” (Africans) that the residents pulled together to provide food, medical treatment and shelter for the rescued, who would have otherwise been sold into slavery. Despite this, 294 died and were buried in Key West in unmarked graves.  The cemetery is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The African Cemetery Memorial is a great testament to the aforementioned history; honoring those that lost their lives after enduring the Middle Passage voyage, landing them in Key West. Given the beauty of this historically significant site, one cannot but notice that the maintenance and upkeep of the works are clearly not up to par. As such, the Key West community and their allies need to address the matter of restoring, cleaning, and maintaining the setting on a...

This is a tapestry made of concrete with different color tiles. It's very small but it has little posts all around it that talk about different issues. In addition it's called Higgs Beach and you can read about the slave ships that were intercepted by the Navy and how slaves were rescued when they were then given their freedom... and clothes, shelter and able to live. Over a thousand were saved 274 were lost. One of the most beautiful spots ever right next to the...

Found this little historic gem when we were out looking at the beaches. Found this to be some absolutely amazing history. One that's story definitely needs to be told. Extremely tragic story, but one that I'm sure was repeated over and over. Definitely some horrible human rights atrocities that were likely common during this dark period of history. Hopefully, more people will visit sites such as this, so it will never...