Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key
About this property
The Sugarloaf Key Bat Tower, also known as the Perky Bat Tower, was a historic site in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It was located a mile northwest of U.S. Route 1 on Lower Sugarloaf Key at mile marker 17. On May 13, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The tower was blown down during Hurricane Irma in 2017. The tower was built in 1929 by Richter Clyde Perky, a fish lodge owner, to control the mosquito problem in the Lower Keys. However, when the bats were put in, they supposedly flew away, never to return. Attempts to bring back the bat population, including lining the tower with bait formulated from guano and the ground-up sex organs of female bats, failed. The tower was built from plans purchased from a Charles Campbell of Texas, an early pioneer of bat studies. The Hygiostatic Bat Roost, as Campbell called it, was intended to be a roost for bats that would eat the mosquitoes which spread malaria. According to at least some local folklore, the skunk ape was responsible for some early damage to the structure and for driving off some of the bats. The Sugarloaf Bat Tower was toppled over on September 10, 2017, in the devastating winds of Hurricane Irma. As of October 2017, it had not yet been decided whether it will be repaired or re-erected. Two Campbell bat towers are still standing (out of an original fourteen worldwide) in the United States: one in Comfort, Texas; and one at the Shangri-La Gardens in Orange, Texas. At least one of the Texas towers has been internally reconstructed so that bats currently roost in it. The ruins of a fourth Campbell tower, in Temple Terrace, Florida, burned in 1979 and now consist of the concrete base and legs. Temple Terrace is in the process of rebuilding their 1924 tower. The Bat Tower is used as a setting in the Tim Dorsey novel Torpedo Juice. Mentioned in the novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Mentioned in the novel Gumbo Limbo: An Alex Rutledge Mystery by Tom Corcoran. Discussed on the June 1, 2025, episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. FL-193, "Perky Bat Tower, Airport Road, Key West, Monroe County, FL", 3 photos, 5 data pages, 1 photo caption page, supplemental material
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key listed on the National Register?
Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1982.
What type of historic resource is Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key?
Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key?
The period of significance for Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Bat Tower-Sugarloaf Key will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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