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Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum, situated in Key West, Florida, has been named after founder Mel Fisher, a local hero who, with a crew of other salvagers, discovered a multimillion dollar treasure trove in 1985 aboard the wreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. At present, the museum is best known for its comprehensive compilation of artifacts from several popular 17th century shipwrecks, including Santa Margarita, Henrietta Marie, and Nuestra Senora de Atocha. This small museum is complete with doubloons, pieces of eight, emeralds, and solid-gold bars. The most impressive exhibits put on display on the first floor include heavy gold chains, bars of gold and silver, and jeweled crosses. The main highlight on this floor is a gold bar worth over $18,000.

The temporary exhibits, on the other hand, are put on display on the second floor and are changed frequently. The second floor gallery also features a 1700 English merchant slave ship, the only substantial evidence of the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. The Museum’s recent most and the most fascinating exhibition illustrates the story of more than 1,400 African slaves, who were captured in Cuban waters and brought to Key West for sanctuary. The Museum also houses an elegant gift shop that offers a wide variety of nautical and pirate gifts. The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum is a “must-see’ for all those who visit Key West.

• Address: 200 Greene Street, Key West, FL 33040
• Telephone: (305) 294-2633
• Hours: Mon - Fri, 8:30 AM - 5 PM; Weekends & Holidays,
  9 AM - 5 PM
• Website: www.melfisher.org
  

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