City of Key West, Florida
City
Aerial photo of Key West, looking north, April 2001
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  "The Conch Republic", "Southernmost City in the Continental United States"
الشعار الحادي:  One Human Family
Location in Monroe County and the state of Florida
U.S. Census Bureau map showing city limits
Key West أظهر خريطة فلوريدا Key West أظهر خريطة الولايات المتحدة Location of Key West in Florida
الإحداثيات: Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Monroe
الحكم
• النوع	Council–manager
• Mayor	Craig C. Cates
المساحة
• الإجمالية	7٫24 ميل² (18٫76 كم²)
• البر	5٫60 ميل² (14٫50 كم²)
• الماء	1٫64 ميل² (4٫26 كم²)
الارتفاع	18 ft (5 m)
التعداد(2010)
• الإجمالي	24٬649
• تقدير (2016)	26٬990
• الكثافة	4٬819٫64/sq mi (1٬860٫87/km2)
منطقة التوقيت	Eastern (EST) (التوقيت العالمي المنسق-5)
• الصيفي	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	33040, 33041, 33045
مفتاح الهاتف	305 and 786 (305 Exchanges: 292,293,294,295,296,809)
FIPS code	12-36550
GNIS feature ID	0294048
المسقط الإلكتروني	Official website

Key West (بالاسپانية: Cayo Hueso) is an island and city in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent. The city lies at the southernmost end of U.S. Route 1, the longest north-south road in the United States. Key West is the southernmost city in the contiguous United States and the westernmost island connected by highway in the Florida Keys. The island is about أربعة ميلs (6.4 kم) long and 1 ميل (1.6 kم) wide, with a total land mass of 4.2 ميل مربعs (11 kم²).Duval Street, its main street, is 1.1 ميلs (1.8 kم) in length in its 14-block-long crossing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean. Key West is about 95 ميلs (153 kم) north of Cuba at their closest points.

The city is the county seat of Monroe County. The city boundaries include the island of Key West and all or part of several nearby islands: Sigsbee Park, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island. The total land area of the city is 5.6 ميل مربعs (14.5 kم²). Key West is the southern terminus of U.S. Route 1, State Road A1A, the East Coast Greenway and, before 1935, the Florida East Coast Railway.

Key West is 129 ميلs (208 kم) southwest of Miami by air, about 160 ميلs (260 kم) by car, and 106 ميلs (171 kم) north-northeast of Havana. Key West is a port of call for many passenger cruise ships. The Key West International Airport provides airline service. Naval Air Station Key West is an important year round training site for naval aviation due to the tropical weather, which is also the reason Key West was chosen as the Winter White House of President Harry S. Truman. The central business district is located along Duval Street and includes much of the northwestern corner of the island. The official city motto is "One Human Family."

History

Early history

The Keys were originally inhabited by Calusa and Tequesta Native Americans, and were later charted by Juan Ponce de León in 1513. De León named the islands Los Martires ("The Martyrs"), as they looked like suffering men from a distance. "Key" is derived from the Spanish word cayo, meaning small island. For many years, Key West was the largest town in Florida, and it grew prosperous on wrecking revenues. The isolated outpost was well located for trade with Cuba and the Bahamas, and was on the main trade route from New Orleans. Improved navigation led to fewer shipwrecks, and Key West went into a decline in the late nineteenth century.

Overseas Railway

The Keys were long accessible only by water. This changed with the completion of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railway in the early 1910s. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West with an ambitious series of oversea railroad trestles. Three hurricanes disrupted the project in 1906, 1909, and 1910.

Labor Day Hurricane of 1935

The worst hurricane to strike the U.S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, Monday, September 2. Winds were estimated to have gusted to 200 ميل/س (320 كم/س), raising a storm surge more than 17.5 قدم (5.3 م) above sea level that washed over the islands. More than 400 people were killed, though some estimates place the number of deaths at more than 600.

The Labor Day Hurricane was one of only three hurricanes to make landfall at Categoryخمسة strength on the U.S. coast since reliable weather records began (about 1850). The other storms were Hurricane Camille (1969) and Hurricane Andrew (1992).

In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. Hundreds of World War I veterans working on the roadway as part of a government relief program were housed in non-reinforced buildings in three construction camps in the Upper Keys. When the evacuation train failed to reach the camps before the storm, more than 200 veterans perished. Their deaths caused anger and charges of mismanagement that led to a Congressional investigation.

The storm also ended the 23-year run of the Overseas Railway; the damaged tracks were never rebuilt, and the Overseas Highway (U.S. Highway 1) replaced the railroad as the main transportation route from Miami to Key West.

Seven Mile Bridge

One of the longest bridges when it was built, the Seven Mile Bridge connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon in the Middle Keys) to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. The piling-supported concrete bridge is 35,862 قدم (10,931 م) or 6.79 miles (10.93 km) long. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that housed workers building Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway in the 1900s, that the original Seven Mile Bridge crossed. A 2.2-ميل (3.5 kم) section of the old bridge remains for access to the island, although it was closed to vehicular traffic on March 4, 2008. The aging structure has been deemed unsafe by the Florida Department of Transportation. Costly repairs, estimated to be as much as $34 million, were expected to begin in July 2008. Monroe County was unable to secure a $17 million loan through the state infrastructure bank, delaying work for at least a year. On June 14, 2008, the old bridge section leading to Pigeon Key was closed to fishing as well. While still open to pedestrians—walking, biking and jogging—if the bridge were closed altogether, only a ferry subsidized by FDOT and managed by the county would transport visitors to the island.

Overseas Highway

After the destruction of the Keys railway by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways. This roadway, U.S. Highway 1, became the Overseas Highway that runs from Key Largo south to Key West. Today this unique highway allows travel through the tropical islands of the Florida Keys and view exotic plants and animals found nowhere else on the US mainland and the largest coral reef chain in the United States.

Cuban exiles

Following the Cuban Revolution, many Cubans fled to South Florida. Key West traditionally had strong links with its neighbor ninety miles south by water, and large numbers of Cubans settled there. The Keys still attract Cubans leaving their home country, and stories of "rafters" coming ashore are not uncommon.^{[بحاجة لمصدر]}

Conch Republic

In 1982, the United States Border Patrol established a roadblock and inspection points on US Highway 1, stopping all northbound traffic returning to the mainland at Florida City, to search vehicles for illegal drugs and undocumented peoples. The Key West City Council repeatedly complained about the roadblocks, which were a major inconvenience for travellers, and hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.

After various unsuccessful complaints and attempts to get a legal injunction against the blockade failed in federal court in Miami, on April 23, 1982, Key West mayor Dennis Wardlow and the city council declared the independence of the city of Key West, calling it the "Conch Republic". After one minute of secession, he (as "Prime Minister") surrendered to an officer of the Key West Naval Air Station (NAS), and requested one billion ($1,000,000,000) dollars in "foreign aid".

The stunt succeeded in generating great publicity for the Keys' plight, and the inspection station roadblock was removed. The idea of the Conch Republic has provided a new source of revenue for the Keys by way of tourist keepsake sales, and the Conch Republic has participated in later protests.

Geography

The island is about أربعة ميلs (6.4 kم) long and 1 ميل (1.6 kم) wide, with a total land area of 4.2 ميل مربعs (11 kم²).

The city boundaries include the island of Key West and several nearby islands, as well as the section of Stock Island north of U.S. Route 1, on the adjacent key to the east. The total land area of the city is 5.6 ميل مربعs (15 kم²).Sigsbee Park—originally known as Dredgers Key—and Fleming Key, both located to the north, and Sunset Key located to the west are all included in the city boundaries. Both Fleming Key and Sigsbee Park are part of Naval Air Station Key West and are inaccessible to the general public.

Key West is located at . The maximum elevation above sea level is about 18 قدم (5.5 م), a 1-أكر (4,047 م²) area known as Solares Hill.

In the late 1950s, many of the large salt ponds on the eastern side were filled in. The new section on the eastern side is called New Town which contains shopping centers, retail malls, residential areas, schools, ball parks, and Key West International Airport.

Key West and most of the rest of the Keys are on the dividing line between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The two bodies have different currents, with the calmer and warmer Gulf of Mexico being characterized by great clumps of seagrass. The area where the two bodies merge between Key West and Cuba is called the Straits of Florida. The warmest ocean waters anywhere on the United States mainland are found in the Florida Keys in winter, with sea surface temperatures averaging in the 75 to 77 °F range in December through February.

Duval Street, its main street, is 1.1 ميلs (1.8 kم) in length in its 14-block-long crossing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean.

Key West is closer to Havana (106 miles, or 170 km) than it is to Miami (127 miles or 207 km, farther by boat). Key West is the usual endpoint for marathon swims from Cuba, including Diana Nyad's 2013 record-setting swim as the first completed without a shark cage or fins and Susie Maroney's 1997 swim from within a shark cage.

Notable places

Old Town

The earliest Key West neighborhoods, on the western part of the island, are broadly known as Old Town. The Key West Historic District includes the major tourist destinations of the island, including Mallory Square, Duval Street, the Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor. Old Town is where the classic bungalows and guest mansions are found. Bahama Village, southwest of Whitehead Street, features houses, churches, and sites related to its Afro-Bahamian history. The Meadows, lying northeast of the White Street Gallery District, is exclusively residential.

Generally, the structures date from 1886 to 1912. The basic features that distinguish the local architecture include wood-frame construction of one- to two-and-a-half-story structures set on foundation piers about ثلاثة قدم (واحد متر) above the ground. Exterior characteristics of the buildings are peaked metal roofs, horizontal wood siding, gingerbread trim, pastel shades of paint, side-hinged louvered shutters, covered porches (or balconies, galleries, or verandas) along the fronts of the structures, and wood lattice screens covering the area elevated by the piers.

Some antebellum structures survive, including the Oldest (or Cussans-Watlington) House (1829–1836) and the John Huling Geiger House (1846–1849), now preserved as the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens. Fortifications such as Fort Zachary Taylor, the East Martello Tower, and the West Martello Tower, helped ensure that Key West would remain in Union control throughout the Civil War. Another landmark built by the federal government is the Key West Lighthouse, now a museum.

Two of the most notable buildings in Old Town, occupied by prominent twentieth-century residents, are the Ernest Hemingway House, where the writer lived from 1931 to 1939, and the Harry S. Truman Little White House, where the president spent 175 days of his time in office. Additionally, the residences of some historical Key West families are recognized on the National Register of Historic Places as important landmarks of history and culture, including the Porter House on Caroline Street and the Gato House on Virginia Street.

Several historical residences of the Curry family remain extant, including the Benjamin Curry House, built by the brother of Florida's first millionaire, William Curry, as well as the Southernmost Mansion and the Fogarty Mansion, built by the children of William Curry—his daughter Florida and son Charles, respectively.

In addition to architecture, Old Town includes the Key West Cemetery, founded in 1847, containing above-ground tombs, notable epitaphs, and a plot where some of the dead from the 1898 explosion of the are buried.

Casa Marina

The Casa Marina area takes its name from the Casa Marina Hotel, opened in 1921, the neighborhood's most conspicuous landmark. The Reynolds Street Pier, Higgs Beach, the West Martello Tower, the White Street Pier, and Rest Beach line the waterfront.

Southernmost point in the U.S.

One of the most popular attractions on the island is a concrete replica of a buoy at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets that claims to be the southernmost point in the contiguous United States. The point was originally marked with a basic sign. The city of Key West erected the current monument in 1983. The monument was repainted after damage by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

The monument is labeled "Southernmost point continental U.S.A."; however, Whitehead Spit, on the Truman Annex property just west of the buoy, is the actual southernmost point of Key West. The spit has no marker since it is on U.S. Navy land which cannot be entered by civilian tourists. The private property directly to the east of the buoy, and the beach areas of Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, also lie farther south than the buoy. The southernmost location that the public can visit is the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor park. The actual southernmost point of the contiguous United States is Ballast Key, a privately owned island just south and west of Key West.

The claim "90 Miles to Cuba" on the monument is close to correct; Cuba at its closest point has been measured at 95 statute miles (153 kم) from Key West.

Notable residences

Winter White House

Several U.S. presidents have visited Key West with the first being Ulysses S. Grant in 1880, followed by Grover Cleveland in 1889, and William Howard Taft in 1912. Taft was the first president to use the first officer's quarters that would later be known as the Little White House.Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the Florida Keys many times, beginning in 1917.

Harry S. Truman visited Key West for a total of 175 days on 11 visits during his presidency and visited five times after he left office. His first visit was in 1946. The Little White House and Truman Annex take their names from his frequent and well-documented visits. The residence is also known as the Winter White House as Truman stayed there mostly in the winter months, and used it for official business such as the Truman Doctrine.

Dwight D. Eisenhower stayed at the Little White House following a heart attack in 1955.John F. Kennedy visited Key West in March 1961, and in November 1962, a month after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Jimmy Carter visited the Little White House twice with his family after he had left office, in 1996 and 2007.

Ernest Hemingway house

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway wrote part of A Farewell to Arms while living above the showroom of a Key West Ford dealership at 314 Simonton Street while awaiting delivery of a Ford Model A roadster purchased by the uncle of his wife Pauline in 1928.

Hardware store owner Charles Thompson introduced him to deep-sea fishing. Among the group who went fishing was Joe Russell (also known as Sloppy Joe). Russell was reportedly the model for Freddy in To Have and Have Not.^[] Portions of the original manuscript were found at Sloppy Joe's Bar after his death.^[] The group had nicknames for each other, and Hemingway wound up with "Papa".

Pauline's rich uncle Gus Pfeiffer bought the 907 Whitehead Street house in 1931 as a wedding present. The Hemingways installed a swimming pool for $20,000 in 1937–38 (equivalent to about $NaN in 2018). The unexpectedly high cost prompted Hemingway to put a penny in the wet cement of the patio, saying, "Here, take the last penny I've got!" The penny is at the north end of the pool.

During his stay he wrote or worked on Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. He used Depression-era Key West as one of the locations in To Have and Have Not—his only novel with scenes that occur in the United States.

Pauline and Hemingway divorced in 1939; Hemingway only occasionally visited when returning from Havana until his suicide in 1961.

The six- or seven-toed polydactyl cats descended from Hemingway's original pet "Snowball" still live on the grounds and are cared for at the Hemingway House, despite complaints by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that they are not kept free from visitor contact. The Key West City Commission has exempted the house from a law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

• Harry S. Truman Little White House

• Ernest Hemingway House

• A polydactyl cat with seven toes at Hemingway's house

• Sloppy Joe's

Tennessee Williams house

Tennessee Williams first became a regular visitor to Key West in 1941 and is said to have written the first draft of A Streetcar Named Desire while staying in 1947 at the La Concha Hotel. He bought a permanent house in 1949 and listed Key West as his primary residence until his death in 1983. In contrast to Hemingway's grand house in Old Town, the Williams home at 1431 Duncan Street in the "unfashionable" New Town neighborhood is a very modest bungalow. The house is privately owned and not open to the public. The Academy Award–winning film version of his play The Rose Tattoo was shot on the island in 1956. The Tennessee Williams Theatre is located on the campus of Florida Keys Community College on Stock Island.

Williams had a series of rented homes all over the United States, but the only home he owned was in Key West.

Even though Hemingway and Williams lived in Key West at the same time, they reportedly met only once—at Hemingway's home in Cuba, Finca Vigía.{{Citation needed

Port of Key West

The first cruise ship was the Sunward in 1969, which docked at the Navy's pier in the Truman Annex or the privately owned Pier B. The Navy's pier is called the Navy Mole.

In 1984, the city opened a pier right on Mallory Square. The decision was met with considerable opposition from people who felt it would disrupt the tradition of watching the sunset at Mallory Square. Cruise ships now dock at all three piers.

Cruise Ship Statistics for 1994:

• Number of visits: 368
• Passenger count: 398,370
• City revenues from docking charges: $852,887

In present times,^[] several cruise ships dock on a regular basis at Key West, including the Royal Caribbean ship Majesty of the Seas and the Carnival Fascination, both of which visit weekly. In the last several years, however, larger cruise ships have increasingly bypassed Key West due to the narrowness of the island's main ship channel. On October 1, 2013, 74% of resident voters opposed a referendum that would have allowed the City Commission to request a feasibility study from the Army Corps of Engineers for a $36 million project to dredge a wider channel. Economic benefits from visiting cruise ship passengers are substantial but not attractive to all Key West citizens as the daily presence of thousands of tourists from cruise ships affects the character of the city, resulting in operation of facilities that cater to mass tourism rather than to a potentially more profitable and pleasant upscale clientele. There are also environmental issues as Key West is surrounded by coral habitat. Concerns over environmental protection were considered a prominent factor in the failure of the 2013 referendum.

اعتبارا من 2009^[تحديث], there were 859,409 passengers annually.

الهامش

وصلات خارجية

• Official website
• Monroe County School District—Key West Public Schools
• Key West Art Galleries
• Key West Citizen
• Nautical Chart of Key West
• Map of Webcams in Key West
• Films produced in the Florida Keys and Key West

نطقب:Monroe County, Florida نطقب:Florida Keys