Key Largo

Key Largo
This article is about the island.

Key Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at 33 miles long, the largest of Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Route 1 (the Overseas Highway). Its earlier Spanish name was Cayo Largo,[1] meaning Long Key.

Key Largo is connected to the mainland in Miami-Dade County by two routes. The Overseas Highway, which is U.S. Route 1, crosses Jewfish Creek from the middle of the island to the extreme southeastern part of the mainland, while the Card Sound Bridge connects the northern part of the island across Biscayne Bay to the mainland. Both routes lead to Florida City.

Key Largo is a popular tourist destination and calls itself the "Diving Capital of the World". Tourists enjoy Key Largo's scuba diving and sports-fishing. Its proximity to the Everglades also makes it a premier destination for kayakers and ecotourists. Automotive and highway pioneer and Miami Beach developer Carl G. Fisher built Key Largo's famous Caribbean Club in 1938 as his last project.

The island gained fame as the setting for the 1947 Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall film Key Largo, although it was filmed entirely on a Warner Brothers sound stage in Hollywood.[2] The town of Rock Harbor changed its name to Key Largo after the film's success.

There are three census-designated places on Key Largo: North Key Largo, near the Card sound Bridge, Key Largo, eight or nine miles from the southern end of the island, and Tavernier, at the southern end of the island. Ocean Reef Club is a private gated community at the northern end of the island.

Key Largo is situated between Everglades National Park to the north-west and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to the east, the first underwater park in the United States and the site of the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States.

References
^ Key Names, Florida Keys Gazetteer
^ Moviediva - Key Largo URL retrieved December 20, 2006

 

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