Here in the Keys, history is something that is etched on many surfaces. Our geological history is evident in the strata of ancient coral exposed at Windley Key and Adam's Cut. Remnants of the railroad that blazed a trail to Key West bear silent witness to the history of both the development of the Keys and of the fury of storms they've endured. However, as islands perched on the edge of a rich and expedient trade route, much of our history lies underwater.
Shipwrecks are the most dramatic evidence of the maritime past of the Keys.
Many ships, and sometimes entire fleets succumbed to the wrath of tropical storms, storms that scattered their gold and emeralds on the ocean floor and fed two centuries of treasure-hunters' dreams. Thanks to hurricanes, the waters of the Keys contain the largest concentration of 18th century colonial shipwrecks in the Americas. The nature of the Keys were often a direct cause of shipwrecks. The reef tract was not marked before 1825, and the shallow and sporadic occurrence of outcroppings are sometimes difficult to see from a distance. War and naval battles have also claimed their share of vessels.