Google
Web City Travel Guide   
 ->   ->   -> 

Key West travel guide — Key West tourism and travel information

Welcome to Key West Travel Guide, extensive source of tourist information and travel services offer related to Key West and USA. Book cheap hotels, cheap flights and get car rental. We also offer Key West travel guide books and maps and atlases. Please visit USA travel guide for more travel and tourism iformation and attractions in the USA.

our Key West travel guide — Key West tourism and travel information content

  1. Key West travel and tourist guide
  2. Key West travel services
  3. Key West travel books

latest Key West and USA discussion posts

Join our comprehensive travel discussion board! Share your Key West and USA travel experience! Our Ask and Answer forum is geographically divided, the team of editors world-wide is ready to answer your questions.

Key West travel guide

search in books:  

Search discount Key West travel books in all books. You can also browse and buy directly Key West city guide and USA travel guide books, Key West maps and USA maps and atlases.

about Key West

Key West is a city located in Monroe County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 25,478. It is the county seat of Monroe County.

The city of Key West is on an island of the same name at the westernmost tip of the Florida Keys. It is also the southern terminus of U.S. 1.

Key West geography

Key West is located at 24°33'33" North, 81°47'3" West (24.559166, -81.784031). The maximim elevation above sea level is about 16 feet, known as Solares Hill. Key West Island is about 4 miles long and 2 miles wide; since the late 20th century it has been artificially expanded to the north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.2 km² (7.4 mi²). 15.4 km² (5.9 mi²) of it is land and 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 19.73% water.

Key West is the southernmost city in the contiguous 48 states, as seen in picture

Key West history

In Pre-Columbian times Key West was inhabited by the Calusa people. The first European to visit was Ponce de Leon in 1521. As Florida became a Spanish colony, a fishing and salvage village with a small garrison was established here.

The name "Key West" is derived from a "false friend" anglicization of the Spanish language name of the island, Cayo Hueso, meaning "Bone Island".

In 1763 when Great Britain took control of Florida, the community of Spaniards and Native Americans were moved to Havana.

Florida returned to Spanish control 20 years later, but there was no official resettlement of the island. Informally the island was used by fishermen from Cuba and from the British Bahamas, who were later joined by others from the United States after the latter nation's independence. While claimed by Spain, no nation exercised de facto control over the community there for some time.

In 1815 the Spanish governor in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas of Saint Augustine, Florida. After Florida was transferred to the United States, Salas sold the island to US businessman John Simonton for $2,000 in 1821. Simonton divided the island into plots and sold some of them. There was already a town on a part of the island, with the inhabitants recognizing the authority of no nation. Simonton lobbied the U.S. Government to establish a naval base on the island, both to take advantage of the island's strategic location and to bring law and order to the town. In 1823 Commodore David Porter of the United States Navy West Indies Anti-Pirate Squadron took charge of Key West, which he ruled (but, according to some, exceeding his authority) as military dictator under martial law.

Major industries in Key West in the early 19th century included fishing, salt production, and most famously salvage. A number of the inhabitants worked salvaging shipwrecks from nearby Florida reefs, and the town was noted for the unusually high concentration of fine furniture and chandeliers which the locals used in their own homes after salvaging them from wrecks.

During the American Civil War, while Florida joined the Confederate States of America, Key West remained in US hands thanks to the Naval base.

In the late 19th century salt and salvage declined as industries, but Key West gained a thriving cigar making industry.

Many Cubans moved to Key West during Cuba's unsuccessful war for independence in the 1860s and 1870s.

Key West was the last of the series of Keys connected to the Florida mainland by a series of railroad bridges completed in 1912, as the Overseas Railway extension of Henry M. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed many of the railroad bridges, and drowned hundreds of Flagler's workers. The United States Federal Government then rebuilt the rail lines as an automobile highway, completed in 1938, which became an extension of United States Highway 1. The portion of US 1 through the Keys is called the Overseas Highway. Because Key West can be accessed by land, the southern point of the island is marked as the southernmost point of land on the United States mainland.

Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West for many years, and graces the front of Sloppy Joe's bar t-shirts.

In the 1980s Key West briefly declared its independence as a protest over a Federal roadblock of the Overseas Highway.

Near cities to Key West


Near webcams to Key West


back to top

Key West travel services

choose from our international travel services offer:

cheap flights to Key West

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of four main cheap airline tickets and cheap flights online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap airline tickets Key West, cheap flights Key West, also available cheap airline tickets to USA and to the whole world. Up to date cheap flights Key West deals also available.

cheap Key West hotels

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main cheap hotels and accommodation online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap hotels in Key West, USA hotel guide and cheap hotels and accommodation in lot of other world-wide destinations. Up to date cheap Key West hotel deals and discount accommodation tips also available.

cheap Key West vacations

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main cheap vacations online booking systems. We are happy to offer cheap vacations in Key West, USA vacation rentals and cheap vacations in lot of other destinations world-wide. Up to date Key West vacation deals also available.

cheap car rentals in Key West

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of main car rentals online booking systems. We are happy to offer car rentals in Key West, car hire in USA and cheap car rental in lot other world-wide destinations. Up to date cheap Key West car hire deals also available.

Key West travel insurance

City Travel Guide is exclusive partner of Essential Travel Ltd., leading online travel insurance company, we can offer you health travel insurance for Key West, accident health Key West travel insurance, all using our online Key West travel insurance form. We also offer travel insurance for other cities in USA. This offer is available for UK residents only.

Key West real estate

City Travel Guide comes with Key West real estate guide with several tips on home valuation, realtors comparison, secrets on finding the "right" home, loans guide and other helpful real estate advices. Our partners also maintain Key West property for sale and rental listings, real estate laws and reviews. We will try to help you with buying property in USA, choosing real estate agents, property finders, relocation help, and information for English speakers wanting to buy real estate in Key West.

back to top

Key West travel books

Key West travel guide books

search travel guide books:  

Key West maps and atlases

search maps and atlases:  
back to top

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Key West, Florida".




This city is also known as: Key West.

Copyright © 2004 City Travel Guide Team. All rights reserved. | contact us | sitemap | links | XHTML and CSS