Today I drove over to Clarence S. Higgs Memorial Beach, which is on the south coast of Key West. I parked near the African Cemetery. In 1860, the U.S. Navy intercepted three illegal slave ships, brought them to Key West, and unloaded from them about 1,500 Africans. Despite efforts by the locals to provide them with food and shelter, several hundred of them died and were buried here. In this photo, you can see the outline of the African continent and the island of Madagascar, with three red crosses showing where the people were taken from.
Another part of the cemetery shows the outlines of Cuba and the southeastern United States, including Florida. The three red crosses show where the ships were intercepted. The U.S. banned the importation of slaves in 1808, but illegal slave shipping continued until the 1860s.
Next to the cemetery is the Key West Garden Club at West Martello Tower, which started out as Fort West Martello. This was a companion fort to Fort East Martello, which I visited this past Saturday. Here's the north side of the fort, seen from across the street.
The fort has a bunch of interior walkways, such as this one, which abound in vegetation.
This doorway is topped by an arch.
I could look out of the fort toward the west and see much of Higgs Beach.
This sculpture of an African man's head sits on a brick and mortar pedestal.
Another walkway has some more vegetation.
A statue of a monk stands in a niche behind some potted plants.
Admission to the garden/former fort is free, but donations will be gladly accepted. After completing my visit, I explored some more of the nearby area.
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