Key West is a popular city, especially a wonderful tourist destination on the southernmost fringes of the state of Florida in the US. The geographical limits of the city encompasses the Key West island, the Stock island, Sigsbee Park, Sunset Key and Wisteria island and Key Haven. All these places together make up the Monroe county of which Key West is the county seat. The city Key West derived its name from the Spaniards who came to call the place Cayo Hueso which was later degraded to sound like Key West. The island was later bought from the Spaniards by an opportunistic businessman called John Simonton at quite a good price and whose descendants still inhabit a island and have quite a powerful presence here.
At one point of time the island was the den of dangerous pirates but with the construction of the lighthouse in the 1850's changed the economy of the place for the better. Refugee cigar makers from Cuba settled in the island around the same time and the business of the island developed around their business and the 1880's heralded the most glorious phase in Key West's history. But later on the economy thrived on tourism and it still continues to do so.The incessant sun and sea has made this a tourist hot-spot.
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Key West has gained much significance from the visit of world-renowned author Ernest Hemingway who had inhabited the city for 10 years at a stretch. Today, his house and works make up one of the must-visit attractions of Key West. Key west has also served as home to many other noted personalities like Tennessee Williams, John James Audubon. Fort Jefferson stands today as a reminder of how important the city was during the civil War years. Key west serves as an important seaport for passenger ships, it also has its own international airport. Key West also serves the additional role of a naval training base.
The majority of the local residents of Key West are Conchs who were original inhabitants of the Bahamas. It was not until 1912 that Key West was connected through overseas railway with mainland Florida. Key West experiences mostly mild weather year round but it faces the maximum brunt from June to September when it survives almost 53% of entire Florida's rainfall and hence, thunderstorms and floods are not unusual at this time of the year. Hurricanes although are common year round. Another striking feature of Key West is that it has very little population, in fact, one of the lowest in the US. Despite all these the appeal of the sea and sun has not lessened and it continues to be a favorite with tourists.
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