Mallory Square is a plaza situated on the waterfront in Key West’s historic Old Town just west of the northern end of Duval Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It hosts the nightly “Sunset Celebration,” considered one of the city’s main tourist attractions. Every night, hundreds of tourists flock to the square — or one of the adjacent watering holes — to watch the sunset. The celebration includes arts and crafts exhibitors, street performers, and food carts. Adjacent to Mallory Square is the city’s cruise ship port, which opened in 1984. However, cruise ships must depart before the nightly sunset celebration.
33040
The Overseas Highway is a 113-mile-long highway carrying U.S. Route 1 through the Florida Keys to Key West. It was largely built on parts of the former Overseas Railroad right-of-way, an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West Extension completed in 1912. The 1935 Labor Day hurricane heavily damaged and partially destroyed the Overseas Railroad. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections and sold roadbed and remaining bridges to Florida, making it a famous drive between Miami and Key West.
The Seven Mile Bridge is perhaps the most famous bridge on the 113-mile-long Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys to Key West. The Florida East Coast Railway build the original bridge, initially known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, from 1909 to 1912 as part of its Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad. Following the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, the railroad, financially unable to rebuild the route, sold the remaining bridges to the government, which reworked it as a highway. A newer bridge, constructed from 1978 to 1982, replaced the original span, which largely remains in place.
33050
The Southernmost Point Buoy is a concrete buoy that ostensibly marks the southernmost point in the continental United States and is a popular photograph for tourists. The buoy, which sits at 18 feet above sea level, was established in 1983 at South and Whitehead streets. Cuba is about 90 miles south of the point, but the exact distance is disputed, as is the southernmost point claim. The southernmost point was initially marked with a small sign before city officials erected the buoy in 1983. Hurricane Irma damaged the paint job in September 2017, but the original artist, with support from the city of Key West, refurbished it.
33040