Introduction

Key West's attractions span a famously misunderstood landmark, a literary icon's former home, and a dessert whose origin story is genuinely unsettled. We checked current facts and a couple of claims worth handling carefully.

The Southernmost Point

Photo: qwesy qwesy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Worth restating from our travel guide: this buoy marks the southernmost point accessible to the public in the continental US, not the literal southernmost point overall — that distinction belongs to a restricted naval area and a private island nearby. It's also currently relocated to a temporary spot during construction, so check its current location before visiting.

Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum

Photo: Elisa.rolle / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hemingway lived at 907 Whitehead Street from 1931 to 1939, writing several major works there. The museum is home to a colony of cats descended from one gifted to Hemingway in the 1930s, roughly 40 to 60 of them at any given time depending on recent litters — treat any single precise headcount as an approximation rather than a fixed number, since it naturally fluctuates.

Duval Street and a Common Bar Mix-Up

Photo: Mike / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Duval Street is Key West's main tourist, bar, and shopping strip, nicknamed "the longest street in the world" as a local joke rather than a literal claim. Worth untangling a common point of confusion: the bar Hemingway actually drank at through the 1930s occupied a building that's now Captain Tony's Saloon — the Sloppy Joe's Bar operating today under that name relocated to its current Duval Street address after a rent dispute, carrying the name with it.

Mile Marker 0

Photo: Parker1297 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

A roadside sign marking the southern terminus of US Route 1, near Whitehead and Fleming Streets — a separate landmark from the Southernmost Point buoy, though the two are frequently confused by visitors.

Mallory Square Sunset Celebration

Photo: L4librarian / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

A genuine, long-running nightly tradition, free and held essentially year-round, featuring street performers and artisans gathering roughly two hours before sunset.

Key West Cemetery

Photo: Daniel Schwen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A historic cemetery known for unusual epitaphs, including one specific, well-documented headstone reading "I told you I was sick," widely cited by local tour guides as the cemetery's most-asked-about grave.

Dry Tortugas National Park

Photo: NPS staff / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

A separate, remote national park roughly 70 miles west of Key West, accessible only by boat or seaplane — a genuine day trip requiring advance planning, not a quick add-on to a Key West visit.

Key Lime Pie's Disputed Origin

Worth treating as a genuinely unresolved debate rather than settled history: one narrative credits Key West sponge fishermen in the late 1800s, while food historians have traced an early printed recipe to a 1931 corporate promotion by a condensed-milk company in New York. No documentary evidence conclusively settles which came first.

Practical Tips

• Don't repeat the Sloppy Joe's/Captain Tony's mix-up — the original Hemingway-era bar building is Captain Tony's Saloon today.

• Dry Tortugas National Park requires real advance planning given its remote, boat-only access — don't treat it as a spontaneous side trip.

• Present the key lime pie origin story as a genuine debate, not a settled fact with one inventor.

Sources and Verification Notes

The Sloppy Joe's/Captain Tony's Saloon building history was checked against both bars' own official histories. The key lime pie origin dispute was checked against multiple independent food-history sources rather than a single narrative. Hemingway Home's cat population was checked across several sources and presented as an approximate, fluctuating range.