During the early 1800s, wrecking was a common occupation for Bahamian residents, and many plied their trade in the waters surrounding the Florida Keys. In 1825, however, the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Wrecking Act, which stipulated that goods salvaged from any vessel wrecked in American waters must be brought to a U.S. port.
In the decades that followed, hundreds of Bahamians, including wreckers, boat builders and those in related professions from Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Abaco relocated to Key West. To this largely uninhabited island, they brought everything, up to and including their houses!
