Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The first owner of Cayo Hueso, now Key West, was Juan P. Salas of St. Augustine who received it as a Spanish grant in 1815. In Havana, on December 20, 1821, Salas sold the island to an American businessman, John W. Simonton, for $2,000. Simonton and associates sent a party of men with supplies to the island and on January 19, 1822, took possession of it establishing the first permanent community in South Florida.