Grab a cold one in your flip-flops and take a lazy stroll off Duval street onto Caroline street, as the sun peeps through the palms and catch the essence of what island life must have been like before the party started.
Most of the tourists are here now because of Jimmy Buffett and the only reason they know Caroline street is from his 1976 song “Woman gone crazy on Caroline street”.
This historic corridor in Old Town Key West was in Buffett’s era, an edge of chaos district filled with sailors, fishermen, smugglers, musicians and artists that mingled in the local watering holes.
Anyways, back to the reason for the stroll, the remarkable Joseph Yates Porter House that was built-in 1838, which means it has survived two centuries of hurricanes, not to mention the great fire of Key West in 1886, including the tropical heat and moisture on a monumental scale.
The house was originally two stories, then later expanded to include a mansard roof and dormers which provided ventilation.
These days, it’s a local hotspot called The Porch where you can drink wine and beer.
The residence showcases a blend of Bahamian, New England and French architectural styles.
It was the lifelong home of Dr. Porter who lived there for 80 years, dying in the same room he was born.
Porter studied medicine in Philadelphia before moving to Key West where he was in the Army Medical Corps for 19 years stationed at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortuga’s.
During this time more soldiers were struck down in the South by disease than by armed skirmishes. Dr Porter conducted research and treatment for the deadly yellow fever with the soldiers and was instrumental in the discovery that yellow fever was carried and spread by mosquitoes.
On June 4, 1974 the house was added to the US National Register of Historic Places and is also listed in the top ten most Haunted Places in Key West.
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