Key
West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent,
at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. The island is about 90
miles from Cuba and 160 miles from Miami. Key West is in Monroe County,
Florida, United States. The city also occupies portions of nearby islands.
Laid back, free-spirited, artistic, quirky, and scenic, Key West is
one of the most unique places in the United States. Known for its live-and-let-live
attitude, tropical climate, and seemingly continuous happy hour, this
tiny island has been welcoming visitors seeking a vacation from the
normal for two centuries. Size: 2 x 4 miles.
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Date first explored: 1521,
Ponce de Leon visits Dry Tortugas
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Date as a U.S. territory: 1822
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Below: Key West as seen
from the 11th deck of the Norwegian Sky cruise ship. |
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Below: Everyone
had to ride either a tram or the conch tour train into town.
Walking was not allowed because of military training taking place in
the area. |
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Below: Passing by the Dr.
Nancy Foster - Florida Keys Environmental Complex |
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Below: The beginning of
Florida Keys Scenic Highway and the End of U.S. Route 1 |
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Below: Sign for the Birthplace
of Pan American World Airways |
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The Southernmost Point
Buoy is an anchored concrete buoy marking one of the extreme
points of the United States. The large painted buoy is a tourist attraction
established in 1983 by the city at the corner of South Street and Whitehead
Street.
The wording is not accurate. Florida's official southernmost point
is Ballast Key, a privately owned island south and west of Key West.
Signs on that island strictly prohibit unauthorized visitors. The marker
is not even the southernmost point of Key West Island. The private yard
directly to the southeast of the buoy is obviously farther south. Land
on the Truman Annex property just west-southwest of the buoy is the
true southernmost point on the island, (approximately 900 feet farther
south), but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy property and cannot
be entered by civilian tourists. The southernmost part of Key West Island
accessible to civilians is the beach area of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic
State Park approximately 500 feet farther south than the marker.
The claim on the Key West buoy stating "90 miles to Cuba" is a rounded
number, since Cuba, at its closest point is 94 statute (81 nautical)
miles due south. |
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Below: The waves came crashing
through the slit in the barrier wall. |
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 The
first Key West lighthouse was a 65-foot tower completed in 1825. It
had 15 lamps in 15-inch reflectors. The first keeper, Michael Mabrity,
died in 1832, and his widow, Barbara, became the lighthouse keeper,
serving for 32 years. The Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 destroyed the
lighthouse. Barbara Mabrity survived, but fourteen people who had sought
refuge in the lighthouse tower died, including seven members of her
family. Barbara Mabrity continued to serve as keeper of the Key West
Light until the early 1860s, when she was fired at age 82 for making
statements against the Union (Key West remained under Union control
throughout the Civil War).
The new tower for the Key West Light was completed in 1848. It was
50 feet tall with 13 lamps in 21-inch reflectors, and stood on ground
about 15 feet above sea level. In 1858 the light received a third order
Fresnel lens. In 1873 the lantern was replaced (it had been damaged
by a hurricane in 1866), adding three feet to the height of the tower.
The growth of trees and taller buildings in Key West began to obscure
the light, and in 1894 the tower was raised twenty feet, placing the
light about 100 feet above sea level.
After the Coast Guard decommissioned the Key West Light in 1969, it
was turned over to Monroe County, which in turn leased it to the Key
West Arts and Historical Society. The society operates the lighthouse
and its associated buildings as the Key West Light House and
Keeper's Quarters Museum. On display at the museum is the first
order Fresnel lens from the Sombrero Key lighthouse. |
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Below: Halloween decorations
were everywhere because in the evening the town will be full of people
wearing only body paint, but the Norwegian Sky cruise ship will be long
gone by then, so Karen Duquette and Monica Ekedahl do not get to partake
in the partying. Bummer! They both love to party. |
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Below: The Oldest School
in Key West |
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