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Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum: Traveler Reviews

200 Greene St, Key West, FL
305 294 2633
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Ranked #37 of 83 attractions in Key West
Type: Specialty Museums
56 visitor photos
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227 reviews from our community

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New England - USA
Top Contributor
121 reviews 121 reviews
40 attraction reviews
Reviews in 51 cities Reviews in 51 cities
39 helpful votes 39 helpful votes
“Fascinating History, Both Well-Known and Little-Known”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed February 12, 2013

This museum had a fascinating exhibit about Henry Flagler on the day I visited. Flagler was the man who built the famous Florida railroad that ran all the way down Florida's east coast to Miami and then continued to Key West. Through movies, narration, artifacts, photos, sound effects, models, etc. the entire story was presented. It was marvelous and I was spellbound. What an outstanding feat of engineering Flagler accomplished. I had never heard of Henry Flagler, and that's a shame because of his incredible work. I wish the whole United States could relearn what he did for the state of Florida. He was Rockefeller's business partner, but he is little-known to the general public today. I had never heard his name until I visited this museum and saw this exhibit. Wow. I intend to read more about him. There was also an interesting exhibit about the well-known sinking of the naval ship Maine, a mystery which remains unsolved to this day, and some paintings and other media by various local artists. My husband and I spent several hours in this museum and really liked it. The exhibits on the day we visited were definitely for adults. There were only two children inside, and they were bored. That's okay; museum exhibits don't always have to cater to children. Parents should check at the sales counter to be sure the exhibit is something a child would be interested in before they bring them inside. But my husband and I found it fascinating. Please catch this piece of Florida history before the Flagler exhibit is over.

Visited February 2013
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Key West, Florida
Contributor
13 reviews 13 reviews
4 attraction reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
“Amazing Museum”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed February 12, 2013

Amazing Museum. Loved seeing at all the artifacts especially the Emerald Cross. Would highly recommend to Families.

Visited March 2012
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Czech Republic
Senior Contributor
22 reviews 22 reviews
5 attraction reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“only if you're desperate for a museum”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed February 11, 2013

Perhaps this compares favorably to other Key West museums, but as museums go it's not really very interesting and certainly not worth the price of admission. The Harry Potter section in particular is only worthwhile in that it sparks the discussion "What the heck were they thinking putting this in here?" We were in and out in about an hour.

Visited February 2013
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springboro, oh
Senior Contributor
38 reviews 38 reviews
7 attraction reviews
Reviews in 30 cities Reviews in 30 cities
35 helpful votes 35 helpful votes
“not as represented”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed February 2, 2013

The museum was darkly lit and much of the information was hard to read. We expected to see more of the loot from the wreck but were disappointed. There was no video introduction or synopsis before starting the tour. When we approached the lady at the information desk she told us the exhibit of the slavery ship wreck was a major part of the experience. It turned out that the largest most interesting part of that exhibit was currently on tour and we did not get to view the remains of the ship and other artifacts. It was not worth the time or the money we spent. I would not recommend this attraction to anyone.

Visited January 2013
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Key West, Florida
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
3 attraction reviews
“A true Key West Modern Day Pirate Collection!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed February 1, 2013

This is true Key West..I remember going to school with Taffy Fisher...we thought her Dad was nuts because he would always claim that "today is the day!" meaning he would strike gold and jewels from wrecks off the coast of Key West...well guess what he proved us all wrong, wreck after wreck after wreck was discovered and still after his death! Mel dedicated himself to finding these previous artifacts that made Key West (Island of Bones) Back in the day before Key West was discovered pirates would come and county their bounty and leave the dead bodies behind (Pirates) hence when Key West was discovered it was the Island of Bones! Mel thank you for leaving us such a wounderful legacy and may you rest in peace on the haul of the Titanic....your Museum is tops to me as a real Key West Native!

Visited January 2013
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