Key West, Florida

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) (east), Sigsbee Park (north, originally known as Dredgers Key), Fleming Key (north), and Sunset Key (west, originally known as Tank Island). Both Fleming Key and Sigsbee Park are part of Naval Air Station Key West and are inaccessible by civilians. Key West is the county seat of Monroe County. Key West is the southernmost city in the Continental United States. It also contains the southern terminus of U.S. 1, State Road A1A, the East Coast Greenway and, before 1935, the Florida East Coast Railway.

Key West is 129 miles (208 km) southwest (229.9 degrees) of Miami, Florida, (about 160 miles (260 km) by car) and 106 miles (171 km) north-northeast (21.2 degrees) of Havana, Cuba. Cuba, at its closest point, is 94 statute miles (151 km) south. Key West is a seaport destination for many passenger cruise ships. The Key West International Airport provides airline service. Hotels and guest houses are available for lodging. Naval Air Station Key West is an important year round training site for naval aviation due to the superb weather conditions. It is also a reason the city was chosen as the Winter White House of President Harry S. Truman. The central business district primarily comprises Duval Street, and includes much of the northwest corner of the island along Whitehead, Simonton, Front, Greene, Caroline, and Eaton Streets and Truman Avenue. The official city motto is "One Human Family."

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent, at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. The island is about 90 miles (140 km) from Cuba.

Key West is politically within the limits of the city of Key West, Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city also occupies portions of nearby islands.

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 famous main street, is a mere 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length in its 14-block crossing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Straits/Atlantic Ocean. In the late 1950s, many of the large salt ponds on the eastern side were filled in, nearly doubling the original land mass of the island. The island is 3,370 acres (13.6 km²) in area.

History

Colonial and precolonial times

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

Key West (disambiguation)

Key West is an island in the U.S. state of Florida.

Key West may also refer to:

Key West (TV series)

Key West is a 1993 hour long comedy-drama television series set in Key West, Florida. Thirteen episodes aired on Fox between January and June 1993. It was created by David Beaird and Allan Marcil. The show was produced by Viacom Productions (now CBS Television Studios).

The main character is Seamus O'Neill, played by Fisher Stevens, a factory worker from New Jersey who dreams of being a writer. When he wins the lottery, he uses his newfound wealth to move to Key West to pursue his writing career, where his idol, Hemingway, had lived. Seamus finds the island inhabited by eccentrics. He takes a job as a reporter for The Meteor, a local newspaper.

In addition to Stevens, Jennifer Tilly, Denise Crosby, and Brian Thompson led the large ensemble cast as the town's high-class prostitute, conservative mayor and eccentric sheriff, respectively.

Original cast