Oldest House - Key West, FL
Posted by: 
denben
N 24° 33.434 W 081° 48.237
17R E 418583 N 2716159
This historic marker on the oldest house in South Florida is mounted on a fence post near the entrance to the Old House Museum located at 322 Duval Street in Old Key West, Florida.
Waymark Code: WM12Q78
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 06/30/2020
Views: 4
The marker # 3 reads: " The Oldest House - Originally a four room house built on Whitehead Street in the late 1820's by Richard Cussans a ship's carpenter. The structure was moved to its current location in 1829 and expanded for Captain Francis Watlington to accommodate his wife and nine daughters. The Captain's descendants lived in the house until the 1970's. This is considered the oldest house in South Florida."
From the Oldest House Museum website: "Richard Cussans is credited with building the Oldest House. He was born in the Bahamas in 1806 and came to Key West by 1828. A builder and merchant, he constructed the one and a half story house by 1829. According to the 1829 plot map, the house was built on the site of what would become 322 Duval Street.
He rented the home to Francis and Emeline Watlington. They had nine daughters and Emeline eventually owned the house. Although primarily regarded as a sea captain engaged in the booming maritime enterprises of the period, Watlington also served as Harbor Master and as state legislator in 1859; he then joined the Confederate Navy in 1862 in Mobile, Alabama. After the war he resided in Alabama until returning to Key West by 1885, where he died in 1887. Emeline Watlington had died in 1881, leaving the house to her daughters.
Lilie Watlington, Francis and Emeline’s youngest daughter, never married and lived in the house until her death at age 80 in 1936. Earl Johnson, the great grandson of Francis and Emeline, resided in the house until his death in 1972. Thus, 322 Duval Street was occupied by the same family for 140 years.
In 1974 Mrs. Robert Austin, of Islamorada, purchased the house to preserve it and deeded the property to the Historic Key West Preservation Board (later renamed the Historic Florida Keys Foundation). In 1975 the Board negotiated a management contract with the Old Island Restoration Foundation to restore the house and keep it open to the public.
The house has survived fires, floods, hurricanes and repeated economic hardships. It serves as a physical chronicle of the history of Key West and its people from the earliest days to the present." (
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