There are many northernmost, easternmost, westernmost, or southernmost places around the world, and even in this country. These places signify being the furthest north, east, west, or south you can go and still be in this or that place. Although Key West, Florida, is not the southernmost place in the United States, it is the southernmost point of the continental United States. (Hawaii is the southernmost US state and American Samoa is the actual southernmost US place, being a territory of the US.) Key West is the farthest south you can drive and still be both in the US and in North America.
Even though Key West is an island, it is still considered part of continental US because highway US-1 connects this island and many others to mainland Florida. In fact, to drive from Key West back to mainland Flordia takes over 120 miles. The big city closest to Key West is Miami, and that's 155 miles away. Putting things into perspective, taking a straight shot, or as some people say "as the crow flies," Key West is 60 miles southwest of the Florida Everglades, the southernmost part of mainland Florida, and it's just 90 miles north from Cuba. Being from the Seattle area, that seems so crazy! We're so close to Cuba, closer than driving back to the mainland.
Key West is the southernmost city in Florida. The city used to be made up of only one key, but since has grown, annexing a few other keys. A geographical key (also know as a cay or caye) is a sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. The Florida Keys are a chain of islands extending hundreds of miles on the top of coral reefs. Most of the Keys are accessible by road, with miles of bridges connecting one after another. However some are only accessible by plane and/or boat. There are some keys that are part of the Florida Keys that are more south than Key West, but they are among some of the those that are inaccessible by road, and therefore not technically considered part of the continental US.
Key West continues to be home to a major US Naval Station. It seems like half of Key West is actually part of the naval base. The base holds a major naval aviation school and station. Much of the naval station is known as the Truman Annex. (I am going to share more of about the Truman Annex in a bit.)
One of the many naval base sites on Key West, part of the Truman Annex, is the actual southernmost point of the island, making this location the actual southernmost point of the continental USA. However, this spot is completely inaccessible to all non-military folk. As a tourist attraction, the city of Key West commissioned a work of art in the form of a large buoy that signifies the "southernmost point" of the continental US. It is free to the public to see and pose next to. This spot, however, is actually the third most southern part of the island. The second most southern point is in Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park, and is about 500 ft further south than the city-sponsored tourist site. This is a little jetty of land and rocks extending into the water from the beach. This jetty is only accessible through the state park, which requires payment to enter. From the state park beach you can see the actual southernmost point which is on the naval base. There is another free point on the island that is also more south than the southernmost tourist buoy. This is the Edward B. Knight Pier. It extends about a fifth of a mile south from the island, to a latitude just about as south as the jetty in the state park. These four locations are the four southernmost points on the southernmost place of the continental US.
Now, a little bit more about what makes Key West famous. Key West was the main vacation home of President Truman while he was the President of the United States. Both Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, two infamous authors, called Key West home at the same time. Key West was the birthplace of the Pan American airlines, with its first flight leaving Key West and landing in Cuba. And today, it is a massive vacation spot with year-round tropical weather and beaches. All of this makes Key West feel like a little piece of the Caribbean, outside of the Caribbean Sea. With its temps, environment, and lifestyle, Orsuré says it feels a lot like being back home on the Virgin Islands.
Key West is considered to have three segments, Old Town, Mid Town and New Town. These are aptly named from how long they have been developed. And within them, there are distinct neighborhoods with different and unique architecture and character. Within Old Town a few of its neighborhoods include Bahama Village, Duvall Street, Mallory Square, and one of its newest neighborhoods, the Truman Annex. (There's that Truman Annex again.)
Bahama Village is the historically Bahamian and black part of Key West, and today holds some of the major restaurants and bars of the city. Duvall Street is considered to be the heart of the city, being its main business corridor with restaurant after restaurant and store after store extending the whole length of Old Town Key West. (Orsuré and I had actually spent our first two nights on Key West in a parking lot just a block from Duvall Street. It was a really loud couple of nights with lots of music and people making it a bit difficult to sleep.) Mallory Square is right along the water and is part of the very first European-inhabited area of the island. And, as a neighborhood, the Truman Annex was developed in the 1980s, with a mix of affordable to high-end housing options, and is a mostly gated community.
Walking and driving around Key West, we found sign after sign at different locations saying it was part of the Truman Annex. I became so curious what the Truman Annex was that I eventually had to look it up. The Truman Annex in its entirety was originally a large part of the Key West Naval Station, located in the easternmost and southernmost part of the island. It was renamed after President Truman who would vacation here during his presidency.
Today, the Truman Annex has four distinct parts. Part of it is still an active part of the Key West Naval Station. It is within this segment of the naval base where the true southernmost point is located. Another part of the Truman Annex has been developed into a residential neighborhood just north of Bahama Village. The vacation home, turned Presidential museum, is located here in the Truman Annex residential neighborhood. Another part is the Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park, a former Army base that was annexed by the US Navy in the early 1920s. And the other main part has been developed to host community markets and festivals in new community parks, a massive pier where giant cruise ships dock, and other museums and centers.
I learned this massive redevelopment of the Truman Annex occurred in the 1970s to 1980s in an attempt to revitalize Key West and save the land from a distressed navy land surplus. Fascinating, huh?! Well, I find it to be.
Orsuré and I are continuing to love our time here in Key West, Florida. Some of what we love include the weather, the varied neighborhoods with their unique character, the slower-pace of the island, and just about everyone we've met and talked with all seem really cool and welcoming. We have actually begun to create somewhat of a daily routine for ourselves. In the early morning, we take Ben to an off-leash dog park a block from the beach. Here we are getting to know some of the other local dogs and their families/owners. Then, we do the errands and work we need to get done. Then, take a break, maybe a nap, go explore and site-see. And then, we begin to wind down for the evening. This seems like all too normal of a daily routine. And for now, we're loving it.
We are really enjoying being here in the southernmost point of the continental United States.