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Key West Florida

Key West FL is the southernmost city in "Bahama Village" is an area of Old town
the Continental United States. Key West next to the Truman Annex largely
is a city and an island by the same name inhabited by Bahaman immigrants.
near the southernmost tip of the Florida Fishing, salt production and ocean
Keys and encompasses the namesake island, salvage were major industries in the
the part of Stock Island north of US 1, early 19th century. The salvage
Sigsbee Park and Sunset Key. operations made Key West the largest and
Many passenger cruise ships utilize Key richest city in Florida and residents had
West as a seaport. Key West a high concentration of fine furniture
International Airport also serves the and fancy chandeliers which the locals
area. Naval Air Station Key West offers used in their homes after taking them
a training site for Naval Aviation. from shipwrecks on the Florida reefs.
Key West is officially known for having During the Civil War Fort Zachary Taylor
the nation's first and oldest continuous was established in Key West after Florida
gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. seceded and joined the confederate States
Thus the city's motto "One Human Family" of America. It was an important outpost
Kay West was inhabited by ancient peoples and now contains the largest collection
known as the Calusa People in of Civil War cannons ever discovered in a
Pre-Columbian times. Juan Ponce De Leon single location.
was the first European to visit the area In 1912 Key West was connected to the
and the island was known as Cayo Hueso. Florida mainland via the Overseas Railway
It was established as a fishing and extension. The railway created a
salvage village with a small fort to landfill at Trumbon Point for rail yards.
protect the Spanish colony. In 1935 the Labor Day Hurricane
Cayo Hueso literally means "bone key" as destroyed much of the railroad and hilled
it is said that the island is littered hundreds. About 400 World War I veterans
with the bones from an Indian battlefield living in camps there working on federal
or burial ground. It is thought that the road projects and mosquito control
name changed to Key West is an projects in the Middle Keys were also
Anglicization of the word "Hueso" that killed. It was too expensive to restore
could mean west in English. Many the railroad. In 1938 The Federal
businesses on the island use the name. Government rebuilt the rail lines as an
Great Britain took control of Florida in automobile highway. Completed in 1938 it
the late 1700's and relocated the became an extension of the US Highway 1.
Spaniards and Indians to Havana. Florida The portion of US 1 running though the
passed back to the Spanish 20 years later Keys is called the Overseas Highway.
but they did not formally resettle. The Numerous artists and writers have come to
island was used by fishermen from Cuba the Keys but the two most associated with
and joined by fishermen from the United the island are Ernest Hemmingway and
States. Tennessee Williams. Hemmingway
The island was deeded to Juan Pablo Salis reportedly wrote 2 novels "A Farewell to
in 1815 but when Florida was transferred Arms" and "To Have and Have Not" while
to the United States Salas was eager to living in the Keys. The Ernest Hemingway
sell the island. First he sold it for a House and Sloppy Joes Bar have become
sloop valued at $575 and then to a US important tourist's attractions. The
businessman named Simonton for about Hemingway House is currently inhabited by
$2,000. The sloop trader sold it to a six or seven toed polydactyl cats
man named Geddes who could not secure descended form Hemingway's original pert
rights to the property because Simonton named "Snowball". The cats live on the
had help from influential friends in grounds and are cared for by the
Washington and gained clear title. Hemingway House even though the USDA
Simonton bought the island because he had complains about the number of them housed
learned of the opportunities presented by there. The Key West City Commission
the strategic location. Simonton's exempted the house from a law prohibiting
friend John Whitehead, once stranded on more than four domestic animals per
the islands by a shipwreck had seen the household.
deep harbor. Tennessee Williams is said to have
Lying 90 in a strategic location on the written the first draft of "A Streetcar
deep shipping lane Straits of Florida the Named Desire" while staying at the La
harbor was considered the "Gibraltar of Concha Hotel. He bought a permanent
the West". Matthew Perry said into the house and listed Key West as his
harbor in 1822 and physically planted the permanent residence. Williams' home in
US flag to claim it as US property. He the "unfashionable" New Town neighborhood
reported on the piracy problems and is quite the contrast to the elegant
renamed it "Thompson's Island" and named Hemingway house. It is a very modest
the harbor "Port Rodgers". Neither name bungalow. The house is privately owned
stuck. In 1823 Commodore David Porter and is not open to the public. The
took charge and tried to rule the island Tenn4essee Williams Theatre is located on
as a military dictator under martial law. the campus of Florida Keys Community
Simonton soon subdivided the island into College on Stock Island.
plots and sold 3 undivided quarters of Key West is much closer to Havana than to
each plot to private individuals. Miami. In 1890 it had a population of
Simonton spent the winter in Key West and nearly 18,800 which made it the richest
then the summer in Washington to lobby and biggest city in Florida. The
for development of the island and for the population was nearly half Cuban descent
establishment of a naval base. Among and the city had a succession of Cuban
other first founders are Pardon Green who mayors. Cubans were reportedly active in
moved there permanently and became a nearly 200 factories in town producing
prominent businessman. John Whitehead cigars.
lived there for 8 years and partnered The Battleship Maine was blown up after
with Greene in the firm of "P.C. Greene sailing from Key West to Havana which
and Company". He left the island for ignited the Spanish American War.
good in 1832 returning only once during Pan American Airlines was founded in Key
the Civil War. John Fleeming, active in West to fly visitors to Havana.
the mercantile business in Alabama was a John Kennedy used the phrase "90 miles to
friend of Simonton. He spent only a few Cuba" in his speeches against Fidel
months in Key West before leaving to Castro.
marry in Massachusetts. He returned to There were regular ferry and airplane
Key West intending to develop the slat services between Key West and Havana
manufacturing of the island but died soon until the revelation in 1959. Refugees
after. The names of these founding flooded into Key West during the Mariel
fathers of modern Key West used as names Boatlift and continue to come across the
for the main arteries of the island. dangerous stretch of waters.
Many residents of Key West emigrated from In 1982 Key West and the rest of the Keys
the Bahamas. They were known as Counch. tried to declare independence and become
They arrived in ever increasing numbers the "Conch Republic" in a protest over US
after 1830. Sons and daughters of Border Patrol blockades. The blockade
Loyalists fled to the nearest British was set up in response to the Mariel
soil during the American Revelation. Boatlift. This blockade created a 17
Many of residents of Key West refer to mile traffic jam when the Border Patrol
themselves as Conchs and the term is now stopped every car to search for illegal
generally applied to all residents of Key immigrants. The Florida Keys were
West. The term "Fresh Water Counch" virtually paralyzed as tourism nearly
refers to a resident not "native born" ground to a halt. Couch Republic flags
but who has lived there for more than and T shirts are still popular souvenirs
seven years. The name is derived from for visitors. The Counch Republic
the tradition of placing a conch shell on Independence Celebration is celebrated
a pole at the home of a new born baby. each April 23.




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