The Key West Shipwreck Museum -  In the mid 1800′s Key West was one of the richest cities in the United States. That was the golden age of sail and over 100 ships per day passed by Key West on their journeys throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and the mainland United States. The waters around Key west were known as some of the most dangerous in the world and on average one boat per week would wreck somewhere along the Florida Reef. Key West’s wealth came from salvaging from those wrecked ships. The so-called “wreckers” would watch the reef day and night from observation towers up to 90 feet high, as well as patrolling the reef in their own small boats. The goods salvaged from the wrecks would later be sold at auction in Key West with the wrecking courts awarding anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of the profit to the wreckers, depending on how dangerous and time-consuming the salvage operation had been. Eventually, as navigation methods got better, the number of wrecks was significantly reduced and the wrecking courts were finally disbanded in 1921, bringing an end to an era that saw huge wealth in Key West. Today you can relive the era of the wreckers at the Key West Shipwreck Museum. Many of the exhibits at the museum were retrieved from the wreck of the Isaac Allerton which was caught in a hurricane in August 1856. Because the ship had sunk in such deep water, the Key West wreckers were unable to salvage all the cargo. But the cargo they did salvage resulted in a payoff of over $50,000 making the Isaac Allerton the richest wreck in Key West history. Over 130 years later, in 1985, the wreck of the Isaac Allerton was rediscovered by a group of local divers. Today you can relive the days of the Isaac Allerton and see the original cargo from the ship at the Key West Shipwreck HISTOREUM® Museum.