Every Floridian should visit the Keys at least once in their lifetime. Whether you've been there a hundred times or never been before, it's always cool to learn more about our incredible state. So we checked out travelexperta.com for some fun facts about the Florida Keys:
1. Key West is regarded as the Southernmost point in the country that can still be reached by land. In fact, it is closer to Cuba (only 90 miles away) than the city of Miami.
2. Due to an inspection point on US 1 that was hurting tourism in the Keys, Key West declared independence from the US briefly in 1982. The term they used, the Conch Republic, is now used to refer to all of the Florida Keys.
3. Because it runs across the city from coast to coast, Key West's Duval Street is called the longest street in the world.
4. Most of the sand of Key West's beaches had to be brought over from the Caribbean.
5. For a brief time in the 19th century, Key West was Florida's biggest and richest city (per capita), partly because of frequent shipwrecks near the island.
6. In 1935, one of the worst hurricanes in US history hit the Keys, killing hundreds of people and ruining the Overseas Railway that had been completed only a couple of decades earlier.
7. There are 43 islands in the Keys that are connected by 42 bridges, but there are actually hundreds of islands in total.
8. Key West is the city with the highest average temperature in the country (77.8 degrees).
9. The Florida Reef is the third largest coral reef in the world.
10. The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West is still home to dozens of six- and seven-toed cats that are actually descended from the writer's cats.
Have you ever been to the Keys? Do you know any other fascinating facts we might have left out?
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