Our famous Key West Historic Seaport, formerly known as the Key West Bight, is the site of a 200-year-old maritime base for sponging, shrimping, turtling and fishing industries. Dating as far back as the early 1700’s, fishermen from the surrounding waters, Cuba and the Bahamas have used our very docks in the Key West Bight as a base for fishing. In the late 1940’s, enormous pink shrimp beds were discovered in the waters of Key West which led to a shrimping rush known as the “pink gold” rush. New docks and a stone breakwater were constructed to improve the natural harbor to accommodate the hundreds of shrimp boats who fished out of our Bight. Large plants were built to process the shrimp along with ice plants to chill and ice the fresh shrimp for transportation.
The shrimp industry was at its peak up until in the late 1980’s after more than 40 years of being the heart of the Key West shrimp trade. The structures that house the Conch Republic Seafood Company® are the original Singleton Fish House and Ice Plant built by Booty Singleton to process the coveted Key West Pink Shrimp. The Main Dining Room is where the shrimp were actually processed, headed and sorted before packing and shipping. While sitting and dining look around and you’ll feel the history of our building come alive with the original preserved concrete floors and drains to the ocean, salvaged wood from the original docks and authentic shrimp doors used to build out the interior of the restaurant. As well, the largest ice plant in North America, at the time, is still standing here on our property with the original logo proudly standing on our stage.
Our founder, Dean E. Rollings, had the ambitious idea of restocking the Florida Keys waters with the Queen Conch that had been overfished. Partnering with marine scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Florida Atlantic University led to the establishment of the conch baby farm, the first and only one of its kind. Hence, our nickname the “Conch Farm” was born. After several years and untold efforts and resources, it was discovered that baby conch could not be grown in captivity. Continuing the goal of environmental conservation, Conch Republic Seafood Company® continues to donate the space to Reef Relief, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving and protecting our coral reef ecosystem. The Reef Relief Environmental Center is still on the property today, educating the public and youth about protecting our coral reefs.
Envisioning goals of preservation and conservation Mr. Rollings partnered with Jeffrey Gunther bringing nearly a lifetime of Key West relationships, knowledge, history and experience to create what has become the Conch Republic Seafood Company you know and love today. Together, Mr. Rollings, Founding Partner, and Mr. Gunther, President and Managing Partner, have established those goals of preservation and conservation by offering you the freshest local seafood Key West has to offer. All products are delivered daily by boats docked directly in front of the restaurant where each item is processed and filleted by hand in our very own fish house located behind the building. We are proud to serve you the most authentic dock-to-dish dining experience that will continue to honor and preserve our connection to the Key West Historic Seaport’s unique history.