Old Town
moved on...
I've included a photo of a Key West structure known as The Customs House. It was built around 1890 and served as a clearing house (customs) for imports and it also served as a government seat on and off for many years. Today it is an art museum.
In the middle 70s my father used to drag me to city counsel meetings that were held there on Tuesday nights. These were high entertainment and not to be missed if you found human nature an interesting subject. I did not find it so much fun as my dad, but did go on occasion.
Around 1974 Key West was nothing like it appears today. The town was a wreck. Fortunately off island preservationists took an interest in the town and we started to see an influx of educated do-gooders from all over the country. One such man was Oscar James. (his real name but he is deceased today)
On this one Tuesday meeting at the big brick building Oscar introduced himself and laid out his plan to help bring Key West back to its previous glory. Oscar had set up an office in the Customs House and had gone about cleaning up the whole building inside. He loved the old building and quickly took a proprietary, protective attitude about the old structure.
One of Oscars first speeches involved the long-standing Key West tradition of going out to Fort Jefferson and taking bricks for personal use. He thought we should return all the red bricks that made up the many walkways and ornate structures around the island. He actually thought people would take their property apart and return the red bricks that had all once come from that giant red brick fort 70 miles west of Key West.
No bricks were every made in South Florida, so for years people had gone out to the fort and picked bricks from a huge pile of loose brick that lay next to the fort. These were extras that had been there for a hundred years. When you see red brick in Key West you can be assured they came from Fort Jefferson at some earlier date.
So Oscar tells the crowd their bricks have to go back and no more plundering of bricks would be tolerated. A man we called "Jeep Pappas" piped up and told Oscar the Feds now had the damn fort and nobody could take bricks anymore anyway. Oscar considered this and said this was good policy but we still had to return our walk ways and brick patios. He actually said this to a gathered mob of traditional island thieves. It was funny to watch.
Finally Jeep stands up and waves his arms around, pivots and turns 360. He say's, "Hey Jackass, this whole bleeping building was made from Fort bleeping Jefferson bricks. You want we should take this bleeper apart too?"
Oscar James had not known this disturbing fact, and going forward the proposal was dropped and never brought up again.
James ended up doing some very good work in town over the next 15 years once he got a feel for the local people and a better grip on the island's rich history.
Old Town
Jeep Pappas was an elderly man at the time. He was the last Greek sponge diver of old Key West. He also ran whiskey during Prohibition and was a pal of Hemingway. There are pictures of Hemingway and Pappas in at least 3 bars I can think of. He was a piece of work, swearing every third word but possessing a very sharp mind.
In the middle 70s my father used to drag me to city counsel meetings that were held there on Tuesday nights. These were high entertainment and not to be missed if you found human nature an interesting subject. I did not find it so much fun as my dad, but did go on occasion.
Around 1974 Key West was nothing like it appears today. The town was a wreck. Fortunately off island preservationists took an interest in the town and we started to see an influx of educated do-gooders from all over the country. One such man was Oscar James. (his real name but he is deceased today)
On this one Tuesday meeting at the big brick building Oscar introduced himself and laid out his plan to help bring Key West back to its previous glory. Oscar had set up an office in the Customs House and had gone about cleaning up the whole building inside. He loved the old building and quickly took a proprietary, protective attitude about the old structure.
One of Oscars first speeches involved the long-standing Key West tradition of going out to Fort Jefferson and taking bricks for personal use. He thought we should return all the red bricks that made up the many walkways and ornate structures around the island. He actually thought people would take their property apart and return the red bricks that had all once come from that giant red brick fort 70 miles west of Key West.
No bricks were every made in South Florida, so for years people had gone out to the fort and picked bricks from a huge pile of loose brick that lay next to the fort. These were extras that had been there for a hundred years. When you see red brick in Key West you can be assured they came from Fort Jefferson at some earlier date.
So Oscar tells the crowd their bricks have to go back and no more plundering of bricks would be tolerated. A man we called "Jeep Pappas" piped up and told Oscar the Feds now had the damn fort and nobody could take bricks anymore anyway. Oscar considered this and said this was good policy but we still had to return our walk ways and brick patios. He actually said this to a gathered mob of traditional island thieves. It was funny to watch.
Finally Jeep stands up and waves his arms around, pivots and turns 360. He say's, "Hey Jackass, this whole bleeping building was made from Fort bleeping Jefferson bricks. You want we should take this bleeper apart too?"
Oscar James had not known this disturbing fact, and going forward the proposal was dropped and never brought up again.
James ended up doing some very good work in town over the next 15 years once he got a feel for the local people and a better grip on the island's rich history.
Old Town
Jeep Pappas was an elderly man at the time. He was the last Greek sponge diver of old Key West. He also ran whiskey during Prohibition and was a pal of Hemingway. There are pictures of Hemingway and Pappas in at least 3 bars I can think of. He was a piece of work, swearing every third word but possessing a very sharp mind.
That's pretty cool info and great reading. I'm going down there in the next 5 or 6 months and will be sure to check out the old brick building . Thanks for posting.
