The original construction was built in 1838 by Judge James Webb,[2] the first Federal Judge of the Southern District of the Florida Territory.[3] Webb introduced influential legislation regulating salvage, which helped establish wrecking as a legitimate legal business in Florida.[3]
The house is best known as the lifelong home of Dr. Joseph Yates Porter Jr.[4] His father bought the property in 1845.[2] Porter lived in the home for 80 years, dying in the same room he was born.[4] He was Key West's first native-born physician and Florida's first Public Health Officer from 1889 to 1917.[2] He was instrumental in controlling yellow fever, reforming sanitation and quarantine practices, and initiating health legislation.[4] Porter was among the first physicians to recognize yellow fever as transmissible by mosquitoes.[4]
