Key Assets

As General Services Administration Auctioneer John Connolly prepared to call for bids, he voiced a notion that had no doubt occurred to many "conchs," as Key West natives style themselves. "Poor Harry Truman," he said, "is probably turning over in his grave." Reason: the Government was auctioning off 102.3 acres of land, including a 44-acre parcel with 23 historic structures, among them the plain white two-story clapboard residence that Truman loved and made famous as the Little White House.

While President, Truman checked into Quarters A on the now deactivated U.S. naval base for working vacations, during which he sometimes outraged...