Keys History & Discovery Center

The man let us in the gate, told us it was open until 5, the signs all said open but the doors were locked at 330p. Some rude lady opened the door and said we are closed. She got very defensive when I questioned her and snidely offered us to come in but only to see the downstairs. We declined, clearly you don’t want us there.

One of the coolest places around, learn about the history of the Florida Keys. They have machines where you can read all about the history of our islands. They have events once a month that you can go to if you are a member. Such a great experience every time we go. Don’t forget to go upstairs and see the theatre and learn about the square grouper days!

The Keys History and Discovery Center is a wonderful location to learn the history of the the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, it is mostly reading with limited interactive displays to keep teenage visitors engaged. There is a space on the second floor for young children to play. The videos in the theater are well put together and informative. The fish tanks were beautiful.

This was an incredible museum with such a rich history of the Keys to impart. Apart from certain sections, I was completely unaware of how much history is in the Keys. From the railroad, whose remnants still line the highway, to the Native Americans who resided in this region before, the museum pays homage to everything.

Want to learn about the history of the Keys, this is the place... You can tell a lot of hard work has gone into putting all this information together, and acquiring all the artifacts, that you will learn about all the things you wanted to know about the Keys from the very earliest of days... Thank you to all who work here, the displays are shiny clean, and great to look at...

Enjoyable, and informative. Documentary movies were very good. Great place to learn about your surroundings while taking a little break from the crowds, or hiding from the rain. Worth the visit.

Very interesting and informative museum about the keys. The 1935 hurricane movie made us cry. Really great experience.

A wonderful place to learn about the history of the Keys.

With a tropical storm in the area, we went looking for some indoor activities and decided to checkout this museum. It was unclear how much it cost both on the internet and in person. As the lady started ringing us up, I interrupted and asked how much it was. She seemed taken aback that we might not go in. It was $15/adult and $6/student. We decided to give it a go since it was raining and figured it was worth it to kill some time. We watched two of the movies..the Flagler railroad movie is very interesting, but ends abruptly. The park movie is a really bad infomercial with tons of filler, repeat footage, and not a lot of info. The actual museum displays are professional and contain a lot of information but most of it is presented in a traditional placard/reading format. Not a lot of interact or unique displays. There are a few computer consoles where you can play games(?), but they aren't setup correctly and most of them had been exited out of back to windows or had internet/unrelated content displayed. The highlight of the museum was the art exhibit upstairs that had a journal of a famous fishing guide on display. If your name is Mark, approximately 60 years old, and went deep sea fishing with your dad in 1980, you probably should avoid reading the journal. Overall, on a rainy day, it killed 1.5 hrs. Other than that, I would only recommend if you are really into history. The railroad movie is interesting but while looking into it further after I left, it seems like the movie is an edited version of a movie you can watch elsewhere.

Looking for things to do on an overcast day in the keys, we found a few museums in the area and decided to check out the Florida Keys history museum. First thing is that, yes, there's a big sign on the street to enter but, you feel like you're going the wrong direction after you have to navigate through a resort gate and drive-through what appears to be there maintenance area before arriving at the discovery center. The building itself looks newer and is very large and there's plenty of parking. Upon entering, we had no idea what to expect because we couldn't find the cost of admission anywhere so we had to ask and make the determination if we wanted to go. For $15 per adult and six dollars per student we decided why not. The museum itself is set out nicely with the first floor, including a history of the Florida indigenous people, and then the development of the keys. These are lots of computer screens with interactive items but, they need to be locked because we accidentally got to the desktop and saw we went this first with a variety of windows open, various search items and even Roblox and other games open that kids were playing. There is also a small aquarium section with three tanks. Upstairs there is a small art gallery and a theater that plays a rotation of historical movies. We saw one about state parks (1/5) and one about the overseas highway (4/5). So kind of hit and miss there. If you are a history or museum buff or really interested in the keys then this might be worth a stop but, would not recommend for a family with kids as they will get bored easily.

Wow!! So much to learn... the films were great! Highly recommend to all the local history buffs who visit

This is such a nice museum that provides a good history of the area. It is not large and can be viewed in 1-2 hours depending if you watch the movies. They have a small theatre that shows movies about the railroad that was built to Key West and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The movies look older but are informative. The exhibits explain a lot about the area and history. There is complimentary entry for educators and first responders and I believe for military and vets as well. The staff was so friendly. There are several books for sale if you want to read about the Keys and some of the history. I recommend visiting if you are looking to learn more about the areas history and get out of the heat for a short time.

Great place to learn about Upper Keys History! Good family fun for all ages. Children activity center. Great fishing history.

The 7,500 square foot Discovery Center is located on the property of the Islander Resort. The resort is gated and you just have to tell them that you are going to the center. The center is managed by the Florida Keys History and Discovery Foundation, a not-for-profit founded in 2013 whose purpose is to document the history of the keys with a concentration on the upper keys. It is open Wednesdays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults. The first floor contains aquariums and permanent exhibits on the native people of Florida, the 1733 Spanish treasure fleet, pirates, wreckers, and salvagers, Henry Flagler's Railway, and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. The second floor of the museum is a 35 seat movie theater, the Jerry Wilkinson Research Library, and a rotating exhibit space. This small but nicely done museum is the perfect place to go if you want to learn more about the history of the upper keys. This was an interesting find on my most recent visit to the keys.

Great.place to.come and spend an hour or two and lear about the keys. Filled with relics, and photos of the keys years ago when it began.

Such a great Museum with lots of great interesting facts about the keys. The theatre upstairs is so cool. They also have a great rotating art exhibit.

It's a cool small museum, with a nice ballroom and a huge outside area. Great to have large events . Whole building is clean