Key West, Florida
We like to swim at Higgs Beach when we visit Key West. There are unmarked graves here that have been located by ground penetrating radar.
In 1860 slave trade was illegal in the United States. Slave ships were considered pirates, subject to the death penalty. the American-owned vessels Wildfire, William, and Bogota sailed into the Caribbean attempting to deliver their human cargo to Cuba, they were seized, along with nearly 1500 African men, women, and children. The Africans were off loaded in Key West. Records indicate that 294 of them died as the result of the conditions suffered on the Atlantic crossing. They were buried here on Higgs Beach. The surviving Africans were shipped back to Liberia and hundreds more died on the return trip.
In 1860 slaves were selling in Cuba and Brazil for as much as $1,200. That's roughly equivalent to $30,000 in 2016 money, so a ship with 500 slaves might have a value equal to $15,000,000 in current money. U.S. marshal at Key West, Fernando Moreno, erected housing and a hospital for the Africans using thousands of dollars of his own money.. The building was divided into nine large rooms so the sexes and children of different ages could be separated. Moreno petitioned Congress to be reimbursed but was unsuccessful.
In 2006 they fenced of this area where the ground penetrating radar found burial sites.\
It's hard to know what kind of truck this is under all the conch shells.
Mrs Phred on Stock Island.
The Hog's Breath Saloon on Duval Street.
People donate their old license plates to the local bars and pubs.
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