Upper Florida Keys Areas
Key Largo-Google
Map
is an island in the upper Florida
Keys archipelago and, at 33 miles (53 km)
long, the largest of the Keys. It is also 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,[1] meaning Long
Key.
Key Largo is connected to the mainland in Miami-Dade
County by two routes. The Overseas Highway, which is U.S.
Highway 1, enters Key Largo at Jewfish Creek near the middle
of the island and turns southwest. Card Sound Road connects to the northern
part of Key Largo at Card
Sound Bridge and runs eastward 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.
Key Largo is a popular tourist destination and calls itself the "Diving
Capital of the World" because the living coral reef a few miles offshore
attracts thousands of scuba
divers and sport-fishing enthusiasts.
Key Largo's proximity to the Everglades also
makes it a premier destination for kayakers and ecotourists.
Automotive and highway pioneer and Miami
Beach developer Carl
G. Fisher built Key Largo's famous Caribbean
Club in 1938 as his last project.
The
island gained fame as the setting for the 1948 Humphrey
Bogart-Lauren
Bacall film Key
Largo, although it was filmed entirely on a Warner
Brothers sound stage in Hollywood.The island's main village,
which had been known as Rock Harbor after a nearby cove, changed its
name to Key Largo after the film's success.
There are three census-designated
places on the island of Key Largo: North Key Largo, near the
Card sound Bridge, Key Largo, eight or nine miles from the southern end
of the island, and Tavernier,
at the southern end of the island. Ocean Reef Club is
a private gated
community and club at the northern end of the island. None of
Key Largo is an incorporated municipality, so it is governed at the local
level by Monroe
County.
Key Largo is situated between Everglades
National Park to the north-west and John
Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to the east, the first underwater
park in the United States and the site of the only living
coral barrier reef in the continental United State
Tavernier-Google
Map
is immediately south of Key
Largo. This quiet community is often the choice of visitors
wanting easy access to Key
Largo and Islamorada activities
and dive sites. For boaters, Tavernier Creek provides access to both
Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Tavernier is also the home of the Florida
Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center and Harry
Harris Park. Tavernier Key is actually a short distance off
of Tavernier. In the 18th century wreckers used this Key as their base
during the day and searched the reef at night for booty from ships that
had run aground and sank.
Plantation Key-Google
Map
is an island in Monroe
County, Florida, United
States. It is located in the upper Florida
Keys on U.S.
Route 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.
Windley Key
is an island in the upper Florida
Keys. U.S.
Route 1 (the Overseas
Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 84--85.5,
between Plantation
Key and Upper
Matecumbe Key.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as
of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated. Windley Key is home to Theater
of the Sea, a popular tourist attraction since 1946.A Florida
State Park Service geological site, and the popular Holiday Isle resort
are also on the island
Upper
Matecumbe Key-Google
Map
is an island in the upper Florida
Keys. U.S.
Route 1 (or the Overseas
Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 79--83.5,
between Windley
Key and Lower
Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as
of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.
The island lies to the southwest of Windley Key, and to the northeast of Lower Matecumbe Key. The history of the names of both this key and Lower Matecumbe Key are very confusing, as identical names have been used at different times to designate both keys. Upper Matecumbe Key is the location of the original settlement site of Islamorada. There are a number of Indian mounds and habitation sites located here.
Lignumvitae
Key
is an island in the upper Florida
Keys. It is located due north of, and less than one mile from
the easternmost tip of Lower
Matecumbe Key. The island has the Keys' highest point above
sea level of 19 feet (5.8 m),[1] which
beats the island of Key
West's Solares
Hill by 1 foot (0.30 m). The dark green island is
covered with rare tropical hardwood (Lignum
vitae) trees.
Records of the ownership of Lignumvitae Key go back to 1843, including the years of 1919-1953 when the Matheson family of Miami owned the island. The island was purchased by Dr. Edwin C. Lunsford, Sr. and two other investors in 1953. Charlotte and Russell Neidhauk lived on the island and served as caretakers during this period. The coral bedrock house they lived in still stands today. On March 2, 1971 Lignum Vitae and nearby Shell Keys were purchased by the State of Florida, and Lignum Vitae became Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Park. The key is called Cayo de la Leña (Spanish for "Firewood Key") on an unsigned Spanish chart of 1760.
Lower
Matecumbe Key-Google
Map
is an island in the upper Florida
Keys. It is located on U.S.
Route 1 between mile markers 75--78.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as
of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.
It is home to the main base of the Florida
National High Adventure Sea Base.
The island lies to the southwest of Upper
Matecumbe Key, and to the northeast of Craig
Key.
This key is the site of a number of Indian mounds and middens, most of
which were destroyed during the building of the Overseas
Railroad. A number of natural wells were also located here,
at the northeast end of the key. These wells were well known to early seafaring
men as the most reliable source of fresh water in the Keys. They, too were
destroyed during the railroad era, and the location of their site has been
lost. The southwestern end of the key is the site of a former sand mining
operation.
Islamorada-Google
Map
"Village of Islands" is an incorporated village in Monroe
County, Florida,
on the islands of Lower
Matecumbe Key, Upper
Matecumbe Key, Windley
Key and Plantation
Key in the Florida
Keys.
The village was incorporated
on November 4, 1997. Prior to this date, Islamorada was
only considered to be on the island of Upper
Matecumbe Key. As of the 2000 census,
the village had a total population of
6,846. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S.
Census Bureau is 7,033.[1].
The name "Islamorada", meaning "purple island", comes
from early Spanish explorers in
the area. Its pronuciation has been Anglicized to aisle-a-more-AH-dah.
Islamorada was hit almost directly by the Labor
Day Hurricane of 1935, causing 423 deaths. Islamorada is also
home to the Florida
National High Adventure Sea Base of the Boy
Scouts of America.