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Dry Tortugas
Scope Note
The history of individual key names in the Dry
Tortugas group is very confusing. The Dry
Tortugas Keys, being formed totally of sand, have
formed, shifted, disappeared, and reformed over
the years as a result of storms and currents. See
individual key names above for details.
The Dry Tortugas Keys may be the most historically
significant of the keys, It is generally believed
that they were visited by Ponce de Leon in 1513,
and they appear on nearly every chart and map
since that time. In 1742, the British warship
H.M. S. Tyger grounded and sunk here. 242 British
sailors were marooned as a result (probably on
Garden Key) and survived for more than two months
by eating sea turtles, seals and fish. They built
several small fortifications using timbers and
cannons salvaged from the wreck, and finally
escaped back to Jamaica by building a sloop from
the wreckage, and using the sloop to capture a
passing Spanish schooner.
The first lighthouse in the Dry Tortugas was on
Garden Key, and was first lighted in 1826. In
1858 a second lighthouse was built on Loggerhead
Key (II).
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