Art Mckee Museum

[sphillips]

Great pics AARC. I lived in the upper Keys during the 80's and early 90's and worked for a general contractor. A developer bought the castle property and hired us to remodel and build small shops on the ocean side. Those were some great times in the Keys, but they have changed so much. Lots of traffic and too much politics.

steve

 

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[ropesfish]

For the folks who would be interested in some more Art McKee photographs, the Florida State Library has 206 in this collection that Bob "Frogfoot" Weller assembled.

https://www.floridamemory.com/photographiccollection/collections/?id=29

"206 photographs of noted Florida treasure hunter Art McKee
Collection Number: N2005- 8
Creator: Weller, Robert
Title: Art McKee and family photographic collection, ca. 1940s-1970s
Quantity: 206 photographs
Description:
This collection consists of photographs of noted Florida treasure hunter Art McKee and his family includes images of McKee as a diver working on the early pipeline across Moser Channel in the Florida Keys; his two museums of sunken treasure on Plantation Key; McKee and associates underwater excavating the flagship of the 1733 Spanish Plate Fleet in the 1950s and 1960s; artifacts from various shipwrecks, including HMS Winchester on Carysfort Reef in the Florida Keys; and silver bars recovered from one of the salvage vessels working the wreck site of the Maravillas that sank in 1656 north of Memory Rock, Grand Bahamas."

 

[ropesfish]

There is also this very good 2013 video that I have not seen posted -
"[FONT=&quot]Made for Art McKee Days at the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, Florida. Premiered Nov. 2, 2013"
[/FONT]

 

[ARC]

Hey another lost thread resurfaces. heh

 

[ropesfish]

I prefer to add information to existing threads to keep it easy for folks to find, much like adding new information into an existing properly labeled file folder along with all the prior research rather than having 451 file folders labeled "Shipwrecks" with one or two sheets in each.

 

[ARC]

I prefer to add information to existing threads to keep it easy for folks to find, much like adding new information into an existing properly labeled file folder along with all the prior research rather than having 451 file folders labeled "Shipwrecks" with one or two sheets in each.

Hey...
I am glad when you resuscitate a thread Ropes.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

I visited Art McKee's museum when I was a kid - the Civil War Centennial had just kicked off. We visited several battlefields between Ohio and Florida - and Fort Sumter on the way north. Driving down the Keys we stopped and toured the museum. Mr. McKee couldn't have been nicer to a kid than he was to me.

My folks purchased a lost treasure chart and he signed it for me, "Right in the middle of the Caribbean."

I'm sorry the place is no longer there. It housed the stuff dreams are made of.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[Bum Luck]

I went to Florida in 1975, and stopped on the island of Plantation Key to visit Art's Museum of Sunken Treasure. To my vast disappointment, it was closed. I was heartbroken. Art was my hero, and I couldn't meet him.

As my gaze traveled around the museum, I noticed a house next door that obviously belonged to the site.

I went over and knocked on the door. To my delight, Art answered the door. When I explained that I had come from Wisconsin to see him, he went back in the house and got his keys. "Follow me", he said, and I did.

He opened up the museum and gave me a personal tour. He explained that he had been sued by someone for falling, and so had to close the museum.

I was like a kid in a candy store. Art answered my every question, although I'm sure he had done that thousands of times.

Finally, he autographed my 1964 copy of "The Treasure Divers Guide".

He would take no money.

When I got back to Wisconsin, I sent him 5 pounds of the best cheddar cheese I could find. Karen later said she remembered the cheese!

Salute to Art, died in 1979, but not forgotten! - The Father of us all!