When Jimmy Buffett sings about "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude" in the Florida Keys, he has things absolutely right.
The Keys are casual, relaxed, and dedicated to preserving their laid-back nature. Leave your neckties and high heels at home.
Business as usual in the Keys means "No jacket required". The Keys stretch some 200 sun-drenched miles from Biscayne Bay
to the Dry Tortugas, encompassing innumerable islands, reefs, lakes, bays, and beaches. The largest of the Keys is the first Key -
Key Largo. The Keys are linked by 43 bridges scattered along the 126-mile Overseas Highway. Businesses and residents refer to
where you are in the Keys by the Mile Marker - the green and white markers along the highway.The Keys environment ranges from
the fragility of America's only living coral reefs to the seemingly impenetrable mangrove fortresses of the back country.
Crystal-clear aqua-marine waters beckon you to explore their living tapestry of undersea life. In the Keys, life focuses on the water.
The commercial and residential development of recent years had to wait for adequate fresh water to be supplied from the
mainland. The first pipeline from Florida City to Key West dates only to 1942, when it took the water a week to make the trip. The
line was replaced with a 36-inch pipe in 1982, spurring development to a much more rapid pace. The Keys are home to some of
the world's most sought-after gamefish from sailfish and dolphin to tarpon and marlin. Incomparable diving and snorkeling are
never more than minutes away. The unforgettable sunsets will make visitors want to become locals. Few places in the world offer
the brilliance and the serenity of the Florida Keys when it's time for the sun to glide below the horizon.
The Keys were discovered for the Western world by Ponce de Leon's expedition in 1513 and were named Los Martires the
martyrs, because of their twisted, torturous strips of land. They were inhabited only by Native Americans and opportunistic pirates
such as Gasparilla and Black Caesar, who preyed on the off shore shipping trade for more than three centuries. The first Western
settlement in the Keys was Cayo Hueso, the Isle of Bones, so named because the land bore the remains of a vast Indian
graveyard or battleground. The name later evolved into Key West. Cayo Hueso belonged to the Spanish until 1821, when Juan
Pablo Salas sold it to John Simonton, a businessman from Mobile, Alabama, for $2,000. The city was founded in 1822, and by the
1850s grew to about 2,700 people. Most came from New England and the Bahamas to work as "wreckers"; salvaging millions of
dollars of cargo from ships that ran afoul of the reefs. In time, Key West became one of the richest cities in America.Cuban
immigrants, including Vincente Martinez Ybor, built a substantial cigar making industry in the mid-1800s, with more than 165
factories at one time. But the manufacturers later moved most of the business to Tampa. The sponge industry, imported by
Bahamian wrecker William Kemp, once grossed $750,000 a year. It thrived until Greek divers shifted the focus to Tarpon Springs
in 1904 and basically disappeared by the 1930s.
The remainder of the Keys were essentially uninhabited until the last quarter of the 19th Century, when hardy Methodist settlers
began to carve out homesteads. They braved the swarming mosquitoes, built homes from driftwood and shipwreck cast offs, and
began to grow pineapples, coconuts, key limes, and other tropical crops that were then shipped to Key West as well as northern
ports. The next major stage in the Keys' development came in 1905, when railroad magnate Henry Flagler vowed to extend his
Florida East Coast Railway south from Miami to the excellent deep water port at Key West. Seven years later, in 1912, the first train
steamed along the entire length of "Flagler's Folly" proving to the skeptics that it could, in fact, be built. Flagler, his goal achieved,
died a few months later. No one said the railroad would last forever, however. On September 2, 1935, a fierce hurricane packing
200 mile per hour winds pushed an 18-foot tidal wave across the Upper Keys, washing out the tracks and killing more than 800
people. The only thing still standing was an angel that had marked a grave in an Islamorada cemetery. The financially shaky
railroad was never rebuilt. Within three years, however, the railroad right of way was back in business in a new form, the Overseas
Highway. Travelers once again had an overland route from Key West to Miami. Since that time, economic and commercial
development have been inspired by such factors as the Armed Forces' use of Key West as a base during World War II, the advent
of the commercial shrimp industry, and the growing popularity of the Keys in general and Key West, in particular as a haven for
writers, artists, and countless other creative types. Today, much of the Florida Keys maintains an old world feeling. You'll find its
evidence in several excellent museums and parks, and its ambiance around many corners in Old Town Key West and elsewhere.
The Keys are casual, relaxed, and dedicated to preserving their laid-back nature. Leave your neckties and high heels at home.
Business as usual in the Keys means "No jacket required". The Keys stretch some 200 sun-drenched miles from Biscayne Bay
to the Dry Tortugas, encompassing innumerable islands, reefs, lakes, bays, and beaches. The largest of the Keys is the first Key -
Key Largo. The Keys are linked by 43 bridges scattered along the 126-mile Overseas Highway. Businesses and residents refer to
where you are in the Keys by the Mile Marker - the green and white markers along the highway.The Keys environment ranges from
the fragility of America's only living coral reefs to the seemingly impenetrable mangrove fortresses of the back country.
Crystal-clear aqua-marine waters beckon you to explore their living tapestry of undersea life. In the Keys, life focuses on the water.
The commercial and residential development of recent years had to wait for adequate fresh water to be supplied from the
mainland. The first pipeline from Florida City to Key West dates only to 1942, when it took the water a week to make the trip. The
line was replaced with a 36-inch pipe in 1982, spurring development to a much more rapid pace. The Keys are home to some of
the world's most sought-after gamefish from sailfish and dolphin to tarpon and marlin. Incomparable diving and snorkeling are
never more than minutes away. The unforgettable sunsets will make visitors want to become locals. Few places in the world offer
the brilliance and the serenity of the Florida Keys when it's time for the sun to glide below the horizon.
The Keys were discovered for the Western world by Ponce de Leon's expedition in 1513 and were named Los Martires the
martyrs, because of their twisted, torturous strips of land. They were inhabited only by Native Americans and opportunistic pirates
such as Gasparilla and Black Caesar, who preyed on the off shore shipping trade for more than three centuries. The first Western
settlement in the Keys was Cayo Hueso, the Isle of Bones, so named because the land bore the remains of a vast Indian
graveyard or battleground. The name later evolved into Key West. Cayo Hueso belonged to the Spanish until 1821, when Juan
Pablo Salas sold it to John Simonton, a businessman from Mobile, Alabama, for $2,000. The city was founded in 1822, and by the
1850s grew to about 2,700 people. Most came from New England and the Bahamas to work as "wreckers"; salvaging millions of
dollars of cargo from ships that ran afoul of the reefs. In time, Key West became one of the richest cities in America.Cuban
immigrants, including Vincente Martinez Ybor, built a substantial cigar making industry in the mid-1800s, with more than 165
factories at one time. But the manufacturers later moved most of the business to Tampa. The sponge industry, imported by
Bahamian wrecker William Kemp, once grossed $750,000 a year. It thrived until Greek divers shifted the focus to Tarpon Springs
in 1904 and basically disappeared by the 1930s.
The remainder of the Keys were essentially uninhabited until the last quarter of the 19th Century, when hardy Methodist settlers
began to carve out homesteads. They braved the swarming mosquitoes, built homes from driftwood and shipwreck cast offs, and
began to grow pineapples, coconuts, key limes, and other tropical crops that were then shipped to Key West as well as northern
ports. The next major stage in the Keys' development came in 1905, when railroad magnate Henry Flagler vowed to extend his
Florida East Coast Railway south from Miami to the excellent deep water port at Key West. Seven years later, in 1912, the first train
steamed along the entire length of "Flagler's Folly" proving to the skeptics that it could, in fact, be built. Flagler, his goal achieved,
died a few months later. No one said the railroad would last forever, however. On September 2, 1935, a fierce hurricane packing
200 mile per hour winds pushed an 18-foot tidal wave across the Upper Keys, washing out the tracks and killing more than 800
people. The only thing still standing was an angel that had marked a grave in an Islamorada cemetery. The financially shaky
railroad was never rebuilt. Within three years, however, the railroad right of way was back in business in a new form, the Overseas
Highway. Travelers once again had an overland route from Key West to Miami. Since that time, economic and commercial
development have been inspired by such factors as the Armed Forces' use of Key West as a base during World War II, the advent
of the commercial shrimp industry, and the growing popularity of the Keys in general and Key West, in particular as a haven for
writers, artists, and countless other creative types. Today, much of the Florida Keys maintains an old world feeling. You'll find its
evidence in several excellent museums and parks, and its ambiance around many corners in Old Town Key West and elsewhere.
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| Florida Keys businesses cater to tourists. Please help us support our local Keys businesses by your patronage. Florida Keys Small Businesses Thank You! |
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