A History of the Panoramic View in Four Parts: Part III Key West

January's special offering from Tesserae celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the second Landsat satellite launch. Let's look at our history of taking the big picture.

Two weeks I wrote about this month being the 50th anniversary of Landsat 2 and why satellites are the latest way of getting the big picture of our places on the planet. Last week I continued Tesserae’s special project in January with my second offering, a history of panoramic views of one of my favorite places in Washington DC: the National Mall. This week, I feature a big-picture look at one of my favorite cities to visit: Key West.

I’ve not lived in Key West but have visited many times, with friends who lived there and when I worked with Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It’s a little city that lives large and is always ready to have a good time.

Enjoy these panoramic views of the Key West!

Image: William Waud, courtesy of the Library of Congress

Our earliest view is a February 1862 sketch by British artist William Waud who was working as a special artist correspondent for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. This is a quick pencil drawing, but I love the effort and the details, like each precisely square window and the pilings under the docks.

Image: Schumacher & Ellinger, courtesy of the Library of Congresss.

This birds-eye sketch was produced in 1887 by Schumacher & Ettlinger, N.Y. It’s hard to imagine all that undeveloped area toward the rear of the island!