Lower Sugarloaf Key, Florida: Perky's Bat Tower
Tall pine wood structure is a failed experiment in enviro-bug-control. Mosquito problem, bats imported to solve, bats flew away. Richter Clyde Perky hired a guy to build it in 1929, using plans from Charles Campbell. This one didn't work out, and our landscape of cryptic structures is richer for it.- Address:
- Bat Tower Rd, Lower Sugarloaf Key, FL
- Directions:
- Take US-1 South into the Florida Keys. At mile marker 17 take a right hand turn onto Bat Tower Road. (not marked with a sign, just take the first right-hand turn after mile marker 17 sign. Or watch for a large sign advertising Sugarloaf Airport. The unnamed road is 4 ft behind it). Veer to the right at the road fork.
- Hours:
- Daylight hours.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
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Perky's Bat Tower Right off the main road in the keys, so worth the slight detour.
[Janki, 06/02/2012]Unfortunately the tower is now a place for visitors to write their names. It's becoming an eye sore with beer cans nailed to it and the wood is coming loose. Still it's history and was worth the short stop.
[Miss Molly, 08/21/2008]
Perky's Bat Tower The Bat Tower was built to house bats. A guy by the name of "Perky" decided he wanted to open a resort, but the mosquitoes were so bad he realized that nobody would want to stay there. Perky heard that bats eat lots of mosquitoes so he built this tower to attract bats. Perky imported bats which promptly flew away, never to return.
[01/01/2001]Nearby Offbeat Places
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- Bar With Death Chains In The Wall, Key West, FL - 16 mi.
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Built in 1929 by Richter Clyde Perky, who believed that bats would live in it and then eat the mosquitoes that plagued his fishing resort. The tower has withstood many hurricanes (as have the mosquitoes) but it has been rejected by the bats.