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