The Key West Cemetery (officially, ''Historic Key West City Cemetery'') is a cemetery at the foot of
Solares Hill
Solares Hill is the highest point of land on the island of Key West in the lower Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida.
Solares Hill derives its name from Victorio Solares, born on 30 April 1849 in Coya, Asturias, Spain
Spain, or the ...
on the island of
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
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.
It is in the northwest section of the
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
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. 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
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
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
Gallery
Keywestcemetery2.jpg, "A los martires de cuba" Section for Cuban independence fighters in the Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War (; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mil ...
Key West Cemetery Battleship Maine.jpg, Battleship ''Maine'' memorial section
Keywestcemetery4.jpg, Area containing Confederate Navy sailors' graves
Keywestcemetery3.jpg, Historic Angel grave marker
Keywestcemetery.jpg, Some newer graves are put in above-ground vaults, similar to the cemeteries in New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, since the space for below-ground burials has become increasingly limited.
Keywestcemetery5.jpg, Many older graves date back to the mid-1800s and are weathered, broken and\or illegible.
Sir Peter Anderson.jpg, Grave of the Secretary General of the Conch Republic: Sir Peter Anderson
DeerGrave.jpg, Grave of a deer belonging to a Key West family
References
External links
Aerial View from Google Maps*
{{Authority control
Cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
Cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
Cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
Cemeteries in Florida
Buildings and structures in Monroe County, Florida
1847 establishments in Florida
Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida
Cemeteries established in the 1840s