Portal:Florida Keys
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost portion of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern part of Key West is just 90 miles (140 km) from Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 23.5 and 25.5 degrees North latitude.
More than 95 percent of the land area lies in Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, such as Totten Key. The total land area is 137.3 square miles (356 km2). As of the 2010 census the population was 73,090 with an average density of 532.34 per square mile (205.54/km2), although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys. The US Census population estimate for 2014 is 77,136.
Selected general articles
The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city located 128 miles (204.8 km) beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line started in 1905 and it operated from 1912 to 1935, when it was partially destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane. Read more...
Elliott Key is the northernmost of the true Florida Keys (those 'keys' which are ancient coral reefs lifted above the present sea level), and the largest key north of Key Largo. It is located entirely within Biscayne National Park, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, east of Homestead, Florida. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Biscayne Bay to the west, Sands Key (across Sands Cut) to the north and Old Rhodes Key (across Caesar Creek) to the south. Adams Key is just west of the southern end of Elliott Key. Elliott Key is about seven miles (11 km) long. Its maximum width is about 2,500 feet (760 m) near the north end and its average width is less than 2,000 feet (610 m). The higher elevations on the island range from 6 to 8 feet (2.4 m) above sea level and occur generally along an unimproved road that runs longitudinally through the center of the island. The average elevation is about 3 feet (0.91 m) above sea level. The key is accessible only by boat. Elliott Key has a National Park Service campground, but is otherwise uninhabited. Read more...
Plantation Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway), between Key Largo and Windley Key.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated. Read more...
The Overseas Highway is a 113-mile (181.9 km) highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway. Completed in 1912, the Overseas Railroad was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the state of Florida for $640,000.
Since the 1950s the Overseas Highway has been refurbished into a main coastal highway between the cities of Miami and Key West, offering travelers an exotic roadway through a tropical savanna environment and access to the largest area of coral reefs on the U.S. mainland. Many exotic animals such as the American Alligator, American Crocodile and Key Deer inhabit the tropical islands of the Florida Keys. Read more...- Knockemdown Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of Key West. It is northwest of Summerland Key, between Cudjoe Key and Big Torch Key. It is currently owned by retired Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Dave Voit.
A tidal station managed by NOAA is located on the island. Read more...
Pigeon Key is a small island containing the historic district of Pigeon Key, Florida. The 5-acre (20,000 m2) island is home to 8 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, some of which remain from its earliest incarnation as a work camp for the Florida East Coast Railway. Today these buildings serve a variety of purposes, ranging from housing for educational groups to administrative offices for the non-profit Pigeon Key Foundation. The former Assistant Bridge Tender's House has been converted into a small museum featuring artifacts and images from Pigeon Key's colorful past. It is located off the old Seven Mile Bridge, at approximately mile marker 45, west of Knight's Key, (city of Marathon in the middle Florida Keys) and just east of Moser Channel, which is the deepest section of the 7-mile (11 km) span.
The island was originally known as "Cayo Paloma" (literally translated as "Pigeon Key") on many old Spanish charts - said to have been named for large flocks of white-crowned pigeons (Columba leucocephala Linnaeus) which once roosted there. During the building of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad Key West Extension between 1908 and 1912, there were at times as many as 400 workers housed on the island. While these workers built many bridges along the route through the lower keys, the Seven Mile Bridge, spanning the gap between Knight's Key and Little Duck Key remains the largest and most impressive component of what was once referred to as "the 8th Wonder of the World". A number of buildings from the Flagler era remain on the island and are now part of the Pigeon Key Historic District. Read more...- Grassy Key, Florida, is an island in the middle Florida Keys. It is located on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway), at approximately mile markers 57—60, below the Conch Keys. It has an area of 3.65 km², with a population of 974 as of the census 2000.
It is one of the northernmost islands in a chain of islands that comprises the City of Marathon, Florida. The island or "key"—as the islands are called in parts of Florida—hosts many mom-and-pop-type family resorts - oceanside and bayside, as well as many private residences, although the key itself is sparsely populated in comparison to the original City of Marathon "proper" farther south. The entire key was incorporated into the City of Marathon in 1999. Read more... - The Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in north Key Largo, less than 40 miles (60 km) south of Miami off SR 905 (Card Sound Road). The 6,686 acre (27.1 km2) refuge (located in Monroe County, Florida) opened during the year of 1980, under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It was established in order to protect critical breeding and nesting habitat for the threatened American crocodile and other wildlife. This area also includes 650 acres (2.6 km2) of open water in and around the refuge. In addition to being one of only three breeding populations of the American crocodile, the refuge is home to tropical hardwood hammock, mangrove forest, and salt marsh. It is administered as part of the National Key Deer Refuge which is also located in the Florida Keys. Read more...
Duck Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States, in the middle Florida Keys. It is part of the Duck Key, Florida census-designated place. The CDP also includes the neighboring island of Conch Key. Read more...
Key lime pie is an American dessert pie made of Key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk in a pie crust. The traditional Conch version uses the egg whites to make a meringue topping. The dish is named after the small Key limes (Citrus aurantifolia 'Swingle') that are naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. While their thorns make them less tractable, and their thin, yellow rinds more perishable, Key limes are more tart and more aromatic than the common Persian limes seen year-round at grocery stores in the United States. Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. The filling in a Key lime pie is also yellow, largely because of the egg yolks.
During mixing, a reaction between the proteins of the egg yolks and condensed milk with the acidic lime juice occurs that causes the filling to thicken on its own without requiring baking. Early recipes for Key lime pie did not require baking the pie, relying on this chemical reaction (called thickening) to produce the proper consistency of the filling. Today, because consuming raw eggs can be dangerous, pies of this nature are usually baked for a short time. The baking also thickens the texture more than the reaction alone. Read more...
Monroe County is a county in the state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 73,090. Its county seat is Key West. Monroe County includes the islands of the Florida Keys and comprises the Key West Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Although 87% of the county's land area is on the mainland, that region is part of the Everglades and is virtually uninhabited with only 60 people in total. Over 99% of the county's population lives on the Florida Keys. Read more...
The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane (labelled Hurricane Three at the time) was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the United States on record in terms of both pressure and wind speed. It was also the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record until Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. The second tropical cyclone, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, the Labor Day Hurricane was the first of three Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United States at that intensity during the 20th century (the other two being 1969's Hurricane Camille and 1992's Hurricane Andrew). After forming as a weak tropical storm east of the Bahamas on August 29, it slowly proceeded westward and became a hurricane on September 1.
The hurricane intensified rapidly, and passed near Long Key on the evening of September 2. The region was swept by a massive storm surge as the eye passed. The waters quickly receded after carving new channels connecting the bay with the ocean; however, gale force winds and high seas persisted into Tuesday, preventing rescue efforts. The storm continued northwest along the Florida west coast, weakening before its second landfall near Cedar Key, Florida, on September 4. Read more...
Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park in the United States about 68 miles (109 km) west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys. The archipelago's coral reefs are the least disturbed of the Florida Keys reefs.
The park is noted for abundant sea life, tropical bird breeding grounds, colorful coral reefs, and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is composed of more than 16 million bricks. Among United States forts it is exceeded in size only by Fort Monroe, Virginia, and Fort Adams, Rhode Island. Dry Tortugas is unique in its combination of a largely undisturbed tropical ecosystem with significant historic artifacts. The park is accessible only by seaplane or boat and has averaged about 63,000 visitors annually in the period from 2008 to 2017. Activities include snorkeling, picnicking, birdwatching, camping, scuba diving, saltwater fishing and kayaking. Read more...- The Mule Keys are a group of scattered islets in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. They are between 3 and 12 miles (5–20 km) west of Key West, separated from it by the Northwest Channel. On the west, they are separated from the Marquesas Keys by the 6-mile (10 km) wide Boca Grande Channel. They belong to the outlying islands of the Florida Keys. Administratively, they are an unincorporated area of Monroe County. The islets are part of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. The area of the islets totals 1.07 mi2 (2.77 km2), of which 1.02 mi2 (2.63 km2) are land area and 0.05 mi2 (0.14 km2) inland water bodies (on three of the keys). The islets are uninhabited except for Mule Key, for which the census of 2000 lists one housing unit with a population of two (park rangers or coast guard).
The United States Government has placed most of this area off limits, as a part of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. It is even prohibited to anchor off Man Key and Woman Key in the sand, although Woman Key was a popular destination for day trippers from Key West in the past, which Boca Grande Key still is. Anchoring off the south part of Boca Grande Key is also prohibited; it is permitted only off the northwest portion. Read more...
Bahia Honda (meaning deep bay, in Spanish, locally pronounced: BAY-ah HON-da [ˈbeɪə ˈhɒndə], also pronounced (in Spanish): Bah-EE-ah OWN-dah [baˈia ˈonda]) is an island in the lower Florida Keys.
U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 36-38.5, between Ohio Key and Spanish Harbor Key 12 miles (19 km) west of Marathon, close to the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge. Read more...
Summerland Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys approximately 20 miles east of Key West; it contains an unincorporated community of Monroe County of the same name.
U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway) crosses the island at approximately mile markers 24—25.5, between Ramrod Key and Cudjoe Key. The name appears on U.S. Coast Survey chart #169 in 1878. Read more...
The intersection of State Road 4A with US 1 on Little Torch Key
Little Torch Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys. It is a small, quiet Key with easy access to Key West (approximately 29 miles). For divers, the incredible corals of Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary are only a few miles away. The exclusive resort, Little Palm Island, is located just offshore of Little Torch Key.
U.S. Route 1 (also known as the Overseas Highway), crosses the key at approximately mile markers 28—29. It is immediately preceded to the northeast by Big Pine Key, and is followed by Middle Torch Key to the southwest.
A small island 24 miles from Key West, Little Torch Key is home primarily to locals, living and working from Big Pine Key to Key West. The island is also host to visitors who don't mind a commute to the popular destination of Key West. There are a few, but not many businesses on the island, including restaurants and lodging. Read more...
The sign at the front entrance to Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park.
Windley Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States.
U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 84—85.5, between Plantation Key and Upper Matecumbe Key. Read more...
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes ever (along with #4 Rita and #7 Katrina), Wilma was the twenty-second storm, thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, fourth Category 5 hurricane, and the second-most destructive hurricane of the 2005 season. A tropical depression formed in the Caribbean Sea near Jamaica on October 15, headed westward, and intensified into a tropical storm two days later, which abruptly turned southward and was named Wilma. Wilma continued to strengthen, and eventually became a hurricane on October 18. Shortly thereafter, explosive intensification occurred, and in only 24 hours, Wilma became a Category 5 hurricane with wind speeds of 185 mph (298 km/h).
Wilma's intensity slowly leveled off after becoming a Category 5 hurricane, and winds had decreased to 150 mph (240 km/h) before it reached the Yucatán Peninsula on October 20 and 21. After crossing the Yucatán, Wilma emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. As it began accelerating to the northeast, gradual re-intensification occurred, and the hurricane was upgraded to Category 3 status on October 24. Shortly thereafter, Wilma made landfall in Cape Romano, Florida with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). As Wilma was crossing Florida, it briefly weakened back to a Category 2 hurricane, but again re-intensified as it reached the Atlantic Ocean. The hurricane intensified into a Category 3 hurricane for the last time, before weakening while accelerating northeastward. By October 26, Wilma transitioned into an extratropical cyclone southeast of Nova Scotia. Read more...
Key Largo (Spanish: Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the Keys, at 33 miles (53 km) long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1 (the Overseas Highway). Its earlier Spanish name was Cayo Largo, meaning long islet.
Key Largo is connected to the mainland in Miami-Dade County by two routes. The first route is The Overseas Highway, which is U.S. Highway 1 that enters Key Largo at Jewfish Creek near the middle of the island and turns southwest. The second route is Card Sound Road, which connects to the northern part of Key Largo at Card Sound Bridge and runs southeastward to connect with County Road 905, which runs southwest and joins U.S. 1 at about mile marker 106. These routes originate at Florida City on the mainland. Read more...
Key Largo (Spanish: Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the Keys, at 33 miles (53 km) long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1 (the Overseas Highway). Its earlier Spanish name was Cayo Largo, meaning long islet.
Key Largo is connected to the mainland in Miami-Dade County by two routes. The first route is The Overseas Highway, which is U.S. Highway 1 that enters Key Largo at Jewfish Creek near the middle of the island and turns southwest. The second route is Card Sound Road, which connects to the northern part of Key Largo at Card Sound Bridge and runs southeastward to connect with County Road 905, which runs southwest and joins U.S. 1 at about mile marker 106. These routes originate at Florida City on the mainland. Read more...
The Seven Mile Bridge is a bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is part of the Overseas Highway in the Keys, which is part of the 2,369-mile U.S. Route 1.
There are two bridges in this location. The modern bridge is open to vehicular traffic; the older one only to pedestrians and cyclists. The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler and Clarence S. Coe as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad. Read more...
Key West (Spanish: 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 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, with a total land mass of 4.2 square miles (11 km2). Duval Street, its main street, is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) 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 miles (153 km) 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 square miles (14.5 km2). 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. Read more...
Cudjoe Key is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Monroe County, Florida, United States, on an island of the same name in the lower Florida Keys. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 1,695. Read more...- Big Coppitt Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States, in the lower Florida Keys. The name is said to be a derivation of the old English word "coppice", meaning thicket. According to A.D. Bache, in the notes for his coast survey conducted in 1861, this key was the location of Happy Jack's plantation in 1855. Read more...
- Geiger Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys about 5 miles (8 km) east of Key West. It is located to the south of, and bridged to, Big Coppitt Key via Boca Chica Road (County Road 941) at approximately mile marker 11 on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway). It is home to the small trailer park community of Tamarac, Geiger Key Pub & Grill and Geiger Key Marina. It is part of the census-designated place of Big Coppitt Key, Florida.
It was named after Henry Huling Geiger, an early Keys settler, who had obtained land on the Key in 1843 under the "Armed Occupation Act of 1842". (Permit Number 127, dated July 19, 1843). He also owned property in the city of Key West (Key West land records, 1847-1864). Read more...
Sunset Key is located a few hundred yards west off the island of Key West, Florida
Sunset Key is a 27-acre (110,000 m2) residential neighborhood and resort island in the city of Key West, Florida, United States. It is located about 500 yards (460 m) off the coast of the island of Key West. The island is privately held among its residents, one of which is OPAL Properties which operates a small number of guest cottages. The island is accessible only by a shuttle boat that runs from the Margaritaville Marina out to the island. The island consists of a total of 48 single-family homes and 21 vacant lots, each of which are valued at over $1.5 million.
Its closest neighbor is Wisteria Island, about 200 yards (180 m) north. Read more...
The Florida Reef (also known as the Great Florida Reef, Florida reefs, Florida Reef Tract and Florida Keys Reef Tract) is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States. It is the third largest coral barrier reef system in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef). It lies a few miles seaward of the Florida Keys, is about 4 miles (6 to 7 km) wide and extends (along the 20 meter depth contour) 270 km (170 mi) from Fowey Rocks just east of Soldier Key to just south of the Marquesas Keys. The barrier reef tract forms a great arc, concentric with the Florida Keys, with the northern end, in Biscayne National Park, oriented north-south and the western end, south of the Marquesas Keys, oriented east-west. The rest of the reef outside Biscayne National Park lies within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Isolated coral patch reefs occur northward from Biscayne National Park as far as Stuart, in Martin County. Coral reefs are also found in Dry Tortugas National Park west of the Marquesas Keys. There are more than 6,000 individual reefs in the system. The reefs are 5,000 to 7,000 years old, having developed since sea levels rose following the Wisconsinan glaciation.
The densest and most spectacular reefs, along with the highest water clarity, are found to the seaward of Key Largo (in and beyond John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park) and Elliott Key where the two long keys help protect the reefs from the effects of water exchange with Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, Card Sound and Barnes Sound. The bays and sounds (all between the Florida Keys and the mainland) tend to have lower salinity, higher turbidity and wider temperature variations than the water in the open ocean. Channels between the Keys allow brackish water from the bays to flow onto the reefs (especially in the middle Keys), limiting their growth. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that coconut shrimp is a popular dish at tiki bars in the Caribbean and the Florida Keys?
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Selected images
Sunset near Marathon
Map of the Florida Keys, from Key West to the Ragged Keys in Biscayne National Park, showing boundaries of National Marine Sanctuaries (overlaps map above from Key West to Little Torch Key)
Typical current flows
throughout the Florida Keys
(NOAA June 2010)The Coconut palm trees are grown all over Central Florida and South Florida.
The Seven Mile Bridge is part of the Overseas Highway.
Lower Matecumbe Key to Key Largo, seen from the International Space Station
Map of the Florida Keys, from the Dry Tortugas to Little Torch Key, showing boundaries of National Marine Sanctuaries
Big Coppitt Key to Sugarloaf Key, seen from Spot Satellite
Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom in the Florida Keys, an indication of South Florida's tropical climate
Coconut palms like these in Islamorada flourish in the tropical climate of the Florida Keys
A male Key Deer on No Name Key in the lower Keys
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