San Carlos Institute

[1] Today, the San Carlos Institute is a multi-purpose facility that functions as a museum, library, school, conference center, theater, and art gallery for the Key West community.

[3][4] The growing institute was relocated to a larger facility on Fleming Street in 1884, but the building was severely damaged in a great fire that devastated much of the island of Key West in 1886.

Beginning in January 1892, Martí made several trips to Key West to raise support, collect funding, and unite the divided exile community under the banner of a formal resistance movement against Spanish colonial rule.

[2] In 1973, however, the San Carlos was forced to close all of its facilities, including the school, due to looming financial collapse and the deteriorating structural condition of the building.

[1][6] The Friends of Libraries U.S.A. later designated the San Carlos Institute as a Florida Literary Landmark and dedicated a plaque honoring José Martí's poetry, scholarship, and campaign for Cuban independence.