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Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum

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kimbis
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4 out of 5
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Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum

  • August 20, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by two cruisers from Ames, Iowa
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum

We both remember watching the news coverage in 1985 when Mel Fisher made his great discovery in the Florida Straits. He and his crew literally vacuumed up sunken treasure from the lost ship, Atocha. The first discovery of the “main pile” of treasure included 1,041 silver bars; boxes of coins 3,000 to a box; 65 pounds of gold; gold and silver artifacts; and almost 3,000 Colombian emeralds. There was considerable controversy over the State of Florida’s claims on the historic salvage. We had seen jewelry for sale made from coins from the Atocha. Today we got to see a lot more of the loot. In a substantial building near Mallory Square we toured a good museum in too, short a period of time. We arrived within a half hour of closing. The museum showed us there were more Fisher finds that the Atocha. Earlier he had found a slaver ship and another of the 1622 galleons, the Santa Margarita. Artifacts such as cannons, manacles, and other metal objects that survived life at the bottom of the sea were on display. One room was devoted to the colorful life of the Fishers, highs, lows, tragedies and successes. In one display case we could insert a hand and lift a gold bar…that’s heavy. I was particularly impressed with the filigree work on the fine jewelry, chalices, and other ornate artifacts that survived that long in the ocean. We had to hurry and only made a perfunctory tour of the gift shop before the huge heavy doors were closed and barred.

From journal Key West Kudos

Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum

  • June 27, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Mamaofboyz from Key West, Florida
Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum

Today's the day! Wish I could have found a treasure like that one! Beautiful layout of the actual process used to uncover the treasure. Definitely a must do on a trip to Key West.

From journal Florida Keys

Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum

  • April 27, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by susan alsup from Franklin, Tennessee
This is a fun place to take children when they resent going to museums while on vacation. The artifacts are interesting, and there is enough history throughout to actually learn about the history of the area. I found the gift shop interesting, though unaffordable. I think everyone fantasizes about finding treasures and becoming rich. This brings home the reality of what it takes to do this and shows you it is not just luck.

From journal Florida Keys Lost

Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

  • April 26, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by KimberNicola from Lakeville, Minnesota
If you are interested in what it's like to dive for treasure and actually find one, check out this museum. Mel Fisher is a local hero to these parts, as he and a crew of treasure hunters found four sunken ships; the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita, both of which sank in a hurricane in 1622; The St. John’s Wreck, a vessel of exploration that carried conquistadors to the Caribbean in roughly 1560; and the Henrietta Marie, an English merchant slaver that sank off the Florida Keys in 1700.

Europeans explored what was to them a whole "New World", and exhibits include their exploits, their commerce and the havoc they wreaked by both accident and on purpose to the native inhabitants of the Americas.

Be sure to watch the short film before you walk through the museum. It gives you a background into the history of Mel Fisher, as well as the ships they discovered. You will have a better understanding of the exhibits with the information gained in the film. Exhibits include paintings, artifacts found in the wrecks and a highlight for kids (okay, so I thought it was cool, too!) is touching a bar of pure gold.

From journal Key West - Wild and Wonderful

Mel Fisher Museum

  • February 2, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Girlphoenix from Boston, Massachusetts
Mel Fisher Museum

We had no idea who Mel Fisher was but figured we might learn something. Turns out Mel Fisher was quite a guy. He had a dive shop and enjoyed diving the wrecks in the Caribbean and South America. There are a number of wrecks in these areas because of the dangerous passage caused in part by the reefs. Spanish galleons, among others, would often sink in these parts, bringing unimaginable fortunes with them to the bottom of the sea. Mel was very interested in finding some of this treasure, and in the 1970's through the 1980's he and his team of divers found and salvaged the treasure and artifacts from the sunken Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon sunk in the fifteenth century.

The museum displays gold and silver coins, magnificent jewelry, crucifixes, navigational instruments, the gold plate and the gold cup used to detect poisoned wine, and scores of emeralds.

Also on display here are artifacts salvaged from the English merchant slaver Henrietta Marie. One of the few slave shipwrecks ever discovered in this hemisphere, the display includes the shackles used to bind slaves during their nightmarish passage. This was the first time I'd ever seen authentic slave artifacts, and was chilled by their shameful history.

I recommend a visit to the Mel Fisher Museum for a shot of history and an eyeful of beautiful and rare objects.

From journal The Conch Republic

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