Key West Cemetery

Cemetery in Key West, Florida

24°33′21″N 81°47′44″W / 24.55583°N 81.79556°W / 24.55583; -81.79556^[1]TypeUrban cemeteryOwned byCity of Key WestSize19 acres (7.7 ha)No. of graves80,000-100,000WebsiteHistoric Key West Cemetery

The Key West Cemetery (officially, Historic Key West City Cemetery) is a 19-acre (77,000 m²) cemetery at the foot of Solares Hill on the island of Key West, Florida, United States.

It is estimated that as many as 100,000 people are buried there, many more than the 30,000 residents who currently live on the island.^[2]

It is in the northwest section of the Old Town area of the island.

History

In 1847 it was established at its current location after an 1846 hurricane washed dead bodies from the earlier cemetery out of the coastal sand dunes on Whitehead Point near the West Martello Towers.^[3] An African Memorial Cemetery was dedicated beside the West Martello Tower in 2009. Slaves, ill from the sea voyage to slavery in "The New World," were buried there prior to the US Civil War.

In 2005, the cemetery was among those profiled in the PBS documentary A Cemetery Special.

One headstone has a birthdate of 1792. Another records a death in 1843.

Notable Grave Sites

“Sloppy” Joe Russell (1889-1941)
B.P. “Pearl” Roberts (1929-1979) - “I Told you I was Sick.”
Gloria M. Russell (1926-2000) - “I’m just resting my eyes.”
Miriam Albury (1882-1933) - Stuffed bunny on the grave for 14+ years
Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos (1909-1931), a local beauty during 1920s, grave unmarked due to her infamous grave robbing by Carl Tanzler, a German radiology technician who had an obsession with her^[4]

Gallery

"A los martires de cuba" Section for Cuban independence fighters in the Ten Years' War
Battleship Maine memorial section
Area containing Confederate Navy sailors' graves
Historic Angel grave marker
Some newer graves are put in above-ground vaults, similar to the cemeteries in New Orleans, since the space for below-ground burials has become increasingly limited.
$Many older graves date back to the mid-1800s and are weathered, broken and\or illegible.$

Many older graves date back to the mid-1800s and are weathered, broken and\or illegible.
Grave of the Secretary General of the Conch Republic: Sir Peter Anderson
Grave of a deer belonging to a Key West family

References

^ https://www.alltopsights.com/attraction-key-west-cemetery-florida-fl/
^ "Key West City Cemetery". Archived from the original on 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
^ "Key West Cemetery History". Archived from the original on 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
^ Harrison, Ben (2009). Undying Love: The True Story of a Passion That Defied Death. Marathon: Ketch and Yawl Press. pp. 178–179. ISBN 9780978894986.

External links

Aerial View from Google Maps
Key West Cemetery map
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. FL-191, "Memorial to the U. S. Battleship Maine, Key West Cemetery, Key West, Monroe County, FL", 3 data pages, supplemental material

Key West

Areas