Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Key West

KEY WEST (Spanish, Cayo Hueso, Bone Reef), a coral island, 7 miles long, from 1 to 2 miles broad, and 11 feet above sea-level, lies 60 miles south of Cape Sable, the most southerly point of the mainland of Florida. It belongs to Monroe county, Florida, and forms one of the Florida Keys. The soil is thin, but supports a tolerably dense tropical vegetation, including various fruits. In the absence of fresh springs, the water supply is derived from rain and distillation. The healthy climate attracts an annually increasing number of invalids from the north. The inhabitants are chiefly of Cuban and Bahaman extraction, and speak a Spanish patois.

Key West, chief city of Monroe county, covers nearly one-half of Key West island. It has broad streets, arranged on the rectangular plan; and the houses, almost all wooden, are picturesquely surrounded by tropical shrubs and plants. The chief buildings are the Government naval and judicial edifices, the masonic hall, and the opera house. There is also a convent, and several churches and schools. The position of Key West in relation to Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coast of the United States gives it commercial advantages that are seconded by the possession of one of the finest harbours in the Union south of the Chesapeake. Key West shows much the largest tonnage in Florida of vessels clearing and entering; and it has frequent and good steam communication with the mainland. Described as being “to Cuba what Gibraltar is to Ceuta, to the Gulf of Mexico what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean,” Key West is one of the chief naval stations of the United States, and is strongly fortified. The principal manufacture is that of cigars, begun in 1867, and steadily prospering. Previous to 1874, when a hurricane destroyed the works, 30,000 bushels of salt were annually produced on the island by solar evaporation. Fishing, sponge-gathering, and turtle-catching occupy many of the inhabitants; and a large number of small vessels are employed in “wrecking,” i.e., in saving goods and rendering assistance to vessels that have failed to clear the dangerous Florida reef. The population of the city in 1880 was 9890.