Once Upon a Time, the humble turtle was on menus throughout the world,  but sea turtles are protected now and their history at the Turtle Kralls Museum is worth more than a glance.

Once an international hub for processing and canning turtle products, this historic site tells the story of Key West’s Turtle industry.

In the mid to late 1800s, Key West was the center for turtle processing and canning and  at that time turtle soup was considered a delicacy in parts of the United States and Europe.

Green turtles were the targeted species and named not for their outward cover, but for the color of the layer of fat found beneath its shell, that rendered the tastiest stock for the soup that grew to attain worldwide popularity.

The actual Museum building was a Krall, operated as a cannery in the heart of Key West.

Kralls, named for the Dutch African word for “corral”, served as holding pens for captured turtles, where they were slaughtered and processed into soup.

Over two centuries of overfishing led to a near-extinction crisis, with green turtles listed as possibly endangered. in 1964.

By 1970, the turtle population had been devastated and the turtle trade came to an end in 1973 with the passage of The Endangered Species Act.

Turtle Kralls Museum is free and open Thursday,  Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.