Keys History & Discovery Center to Resume Regular Schedule Following Irma
ISLAMORADA, Florida Keys — The Keys History & Discovery Center, located at the Islander Resort at mile marker 82 in Islamorada, is set to reopen Thursday, Nov. 16, and resume regularly scheduled hours of operation.
The museum had been closed temporarily due to damage from Hurricane Irma to the oceanside portion of the resort, which is expected to reopen in 2018.
The Keys History & Discovery Center is to be open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Discovery Center’s first floor features a series of permanent exhibits exploring the vast history associated with the Upper Keys, including “First People,” “Spanish Treasure Fleets,” “Pirates, Wreckers and Salvage” and “Indian Key,” documenting what was once considered the second largest community in the Florida Keys outside of Key West.
“Legends of the Line” premiered in 2014 as the center’s first permanent exhibit, offering a historical perspective on the development of the sport fishing and tourism industries. The exhibit honors Keys fishing legends including George Hommell Jr., a guide who led notable figures such as former President George H. W. Bush, golfer Jack Nicklaus and baseball icon Ted Williams. Female anglers also are recognized, like the Laidlaw sisters who helped keep the local fishing industry prosperous while male anglers served in World War II.
Popular traveling exhibits at the Keys History & Discovery Center have featured the art of the Florida Highwaymen, Florida’s best-known African-American landscape artists, and Key Largo’s reclusive watercolor artist Harry Sonntag, popular in the 1950s.
General admission is $12. Admission is $10 for seniors and free for children age 13 and under. The Keys History & Discovery Center is operated by the nonprofit Florida Keys History and Discovery Foundation.
Discovery Center information: keysdiscovery.com or 305-922-2237
Islamorada visitor information: fla-keys.com/islamorada or 800-822-1088
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The Legends of the Line exhibit honors Keys fishing legends including George Hommell Jr., a guide who led notable figures such as former President George H. W. Bush.