Custom House Museum Reflects Florida Keys’ Past and Present
KEY WEST, Fla. — With 12 fireplaces and a roof steeply angled so snow can’t accumulate on it, the Custom House isn’t a typical building in frost-free Key West. However, the 127-year-old structure is unquestionably one of the most architecturally significant.
Overlooking Key West Harbor at 281 Front St., the red brick Custom House features 18-foot ceilings, dramatic arched windows and an imposing grand staircase. It was completed in 1891 and followed a standard federal building pattern, which probably explains the fireplaces and snow-resistant roofline so incongruous in subtropical Key West.
The building, based on the work of famed designer Henry Hobson Richardson, is renowned as one of the best-preserved examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the United States.
Today a museum that showcases the Florida Keys’ art and heritage, the Custom House has a history as unique as its design.
After its debut 127 years ago, when Key West was the largest city in Florida, the building housed the collector of customs, a federal court, a post office and lighthouse services. In 1898 it hosted a court of inquiry into the battleship U.S.S. Maine’s sinking in Havana Harbor. In later years, trials for infamous Florida Keys rumrunners were held in the building.
Eventually a center for civil service and Naval activity, it was abandoned in 1974.
In 1992 the Key West Art & Historical Society took it over and began historic preservation and restoration, which evolved into a nine-year endeavor. The restored building was reborn as the Key West Museum of Art & History, and its grand opening featured a colorful parade of “mobile folk art” — more than 50 colorful painted vehicles that came from as far away as California.
Today called the Custom House Museum, the property is a focal point for the Key West community just as it was over a century ago.
Since its rebirth, the museum has hosted exhibits on subjects that made news around the island and the globe. They include the U.S.S. Maine’s 1898 voyage from Key West to Havana, where its explosion helped ignite the Spanish-American War; the little-known paintings of playwright and longtime Key West resident Tennessee Williams; and the sketches and painted woodcarvings of the island’s acclaimed folk artist Mario Sanchez.
A permanent exhibit titled “Overseas to the Keys” explores the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad, conceived by Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler and completed in 1912. The railroad ran from mainland Florida to Key West over vast stretches of open water, connecting the once-isolated Keys with each other and the “real world” for the first time. Exhibit elements include a re-created railcar, scores of railway artifacts and even vintage footage of the journey from the Middle Keys to Key West.
Equally fascinating is the Custom House’s collection of artifacts, belongings and documents related to Ernest Hemingway, who spent most of the 1930s living and writing in Key West. Highlights include Hemingway’s fishing logs, his bloodstained Word War I uniform, bullfighting memorabilia, family items and the manuscript of his novel “Death in the Afternoon.” Complementing the collection are 59 original sketches by marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey that illustrate Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.”
Through Jan. 6, 2019, the Custom House presents “Islands, Imagination and Instance: Florida Keys Folk Art.” The recently opened exhibition features paintings, sculptures, mosaics and wood carvings by folk artists inspired by the unique community and atmosphere of the Florida Keys.
Including both contemporary artists and past masters, those represented are Mario Sanchez, Jack Baron, Stanley Papio, Makiki, Ronny Bailey, Frank Balbontin and Papito Suarez. Each has created individualistic work that reveals aspects of Keys life, heritage and traditions.
The flagship museum of the Key West Art & Historical Society, the Custom House offers visitors a memorable glimpse into the Keys’ unparalleled history — and like its intriguing folk art exhibit, it enriches the island chain’s creative reputation and cultural identity.
Custom House information: kwahs.org
Key West visitor information: fla-keys.com/keywest or 1-800-LAST-KEY
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The red brick building, based on the work of famed designer Henry Hobson Richardson, is one of the best-preserved examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the United States.
A permanent exhibit titled “Overseas to the Keys” explores the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad, conceived by Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler and completed in 1912.
Through Jan. 6, 2019, the Custom House presents “Islands, Imagination and Instance: Florida Keys Folk Art,” featuring contemporary and past masters such as Mario Sanchez.