The Original Key West Ghost Hunt

04/23/2024

Today we celebrate Conch Independence!

04/03/2024

Who’s still lingering around the home of this marker?

Find out tonight, on the one and only Key West Ghost Hunt

10/22/2023

10/13/2023

We figured Friday the 13th is as good a day as any to reintroduce our Instagram page to the world 👀👀

Follow us and submit your own ghost hunting photos!

10/13/2023

Come on out and put your fears to the test with Key West’s Best!

08/29/2023

Add Idalia to the list of hurricanes successfully dodged thanks to the grotto at St. Mary’s.

Still time to go light a candle for our fellow Floridians up north!

07/22/2023

Don’t be shocked if you think you see Hemingway out and about this weekend… those are the lookalikes.

If it’s the spirit of Hemingway you seek, we can help!

https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/keywestghosthunt/items/11364/calendar/2023/07/

07/18/2023

Go visit our friends at Hidden Gems and re-up on Agua de Florida!

07/15/2023

Go visit our friends at the Firehouse Museum!

Ghost hunts, lockdowns, & paranormal investigations in a haunted Key West Civil War fort with Robert

07/08/2023

Murder in the streets in Key West! There’s more going on our beautiful island than Duval Street and jetskis. Come find out more with us Saturday!

06/12/2023

Check out one of Key West's many Haunted Saloons for happy hour before joining us tonight!

An old man sits down at a bar in Key West. He’s about six feet tall and 200 lbs. He orders a dark and stormy. This exact scenario happens hundreds of times in hundreds of bars on a daily basis, but there is one regular p...

05/25/2023

Missing pilots…murder in the streets! Come find out more about Key Wests haunted history with me tonight.

05/21/2023

Are you familiar with the Spirit Board?

One of many tools we use to familiarize ourselves with the ghosts of Key West!

05/15/2023

You’ve heard things go bump in the night

Join us to find out why!

05/14/2023

Key West is 128 miles to the mainland and 90 miles to Cuba. Key West, lucky you, is right in the middle. The southernmost haunted city. Come take a tour. Let me tell you Key West haunted history and some local legends.

05/12/2023

Florida Poolside Paranormal Activity caught on tape!

05/08/2023

The story you think you know about Robert Curry’s mansion on Duval Street is a bit flawed… let us set the record straight on your Ghost Hunt!

05/07/2023

An underwater cemetery 70 miles west of Key West! ☠️☠️

05/05/2023

Have you seen any shadowy figures wandering Rose Lane late at night? Share your stories below and join us to find out who is haunting this old town alleyway!

11/30/2022

11/01/2022

Halloween might be over, but never ends in Cayo Hueso...

10/27/2022

As 2022 heads into her final stretch and 2023 appears on the horizon, ghost hunters, paranormal enthusiasts, and people looking for a funky or unusual hotel in Key West are planning their 2023 Key West vacations. What is the most haunted hotel in Key West? What is the best haunted hotel in Key West?

10/22/2022

Robert the Doll is celebrated each October 22nd since 2006? Here's how Robert the Enchanted Doll Day came about. In the video, we read the proclamation to Ro...

03/23/2022

Another awesome part of this milestone year!

MONROE COUNTY ACCEPTS DONATED 200-YEAR-OLD LOGBOOK RECORDING THE FOUNDING OF KEY WEST

KEY WEST, FL – On Sunday, March 20, the Monroe County Library System accepted the donation of the 200-year-old original logbook of LCDR M.C. Perry’s voyage on the U.S. Schooner Shark, in which he documents the claiming of the Florida Keys for the United States. The book will be kept safely in Key West’s Florida Keys History Center at the Key West library. The book was donated by the Key West Maritime Historical Society and Haffenreffer Foundation after the naval rarity was bought for $52,500 at the Doyle Auction House in New York City earlier this year.

The handing over ceremony kicked off the Key West bicentennial week festivities and was fittingly done aboard the USCG Cutter Ingham, docked at the Truman Waterfront.

“This is the most complete account of the founding of Key West through the firsthand descriptions of the captain,” said Corey Malcom of the Key West Maritime Historical Society. “The logbook describes in detail the journey that laid the foundation of the first days of Key West.”

Within the book and letters to the government from 1822, Key West was described as uncultivated, with a fine harbor to escape bad weather, freshwater springs, and abundant fish, turtles, and Key deer to eat. When Perry claimed Key West for the United States, the area was occupied by smugglers, wreckers, and outlaws.

“This is the one and only surviving relic of Key West’s start,” he said. “The genesis of Key West is in this logbook.”

No one is sure who had the logbook in the days leading up to its auction.

“We are so grateful to be the recipients of this kind of donation. It speaks to the trust this community has for the Florida Keys History Center at the Library, knowing we will keep this type of historical document safe in perpetuity,” said Kimberly Matthews, Monroe County’s Director of Libraries. “There are many valuable assets in the Monroe County Public Library, which is why it is important to maintain our facilities at the highest possible levels when they serve as protectors of these irreplaceable assets.”

While the logbook will not be available to checkout, a digitized version will be made available for the public to read at www.keyslibraries.org. Excepts from the logbook can also be found daily in the Key West Citizen’s “Today In Keys History” section -- this week showcases the founding of Key West, known in the 1800s as Thompson Island.

03/21/2022

Check out the festival and then hear over 200 years worth of Haunted History when the sun goes down with us!

Key West is celebrating its 200th anniversary with the Bicentennial Heritage Festival on March 26th!