Upper Florida Keys Areas

Key Largo
is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at 33 miles (53 km) long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 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. Highway 1, enters Key Largo at Jewfish Creek near the middle of the island and turns southwest. Card Sound Road connects to the northern part of Key Largo at Card Sound Bridge and runs eastward to connect with County Road 905, which runs southwest and joins U.S. 1 at about mile marker 106. These routes originate at Florida City on the mainland.
Key Largo is a popular tourist destination and calls itself the "Diving Capital of the World" because the living coral reef a few miles offshore attracts thousands of scuba divers and sport-fishing enthusiasts. Key Largo's 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 1948 Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall film Key Largo, although it was filmed entirely on a Warner Brothers sound stage in Hollywood.The island's main village, which had been known as Rock Harbor after a nearby cove, changed its name to Key Largo after the film's success.
There are three census-designated places on the island of 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 and club at the northern end of the island. None of Key Largo is an incorporated municipality, so it is governed at the local level by Monroe County.
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 State

Tavernier
is immediately south of Key Largo. This quiet community is often the choice of visitors wanting easy access to Key Largo and Islamorada activities and dive sites. For boaters, Tavernier Creek provides access to both Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Tavernier is also the home of the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center and Harry Harris Park. Tavernier Key is actually a short distance off of Tavernier. In the 18th century wreckers used this Key as their base during the day and searched the reef at night for booty from ships that had run aground and sank.

Plantation Key
is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on U.S. Route 1 (or the Overseas Highway), between Key Largo and Windley Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.

Windley Key
is an island in the upper Florida Keys. U.S. Route 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 84--85.5, between Plantation Key and Upper Matecumbe Key.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated. Windley Key is home to Theater of the Sea, a popular tourist attraction since 1946.A Florida State Park Service geological site, and the popular Holiday Isle resort are also on the island

Upper Matecumbe Key
is an island in the upper Florida Keys. U.S. Route 1 (or the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 79--83.5, between Windley Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.

The island lies to the southwest of Windley Key, and to the northeast of Lower Matecumbe Key. The history of the names of both this key and Lower Matecumbe Key are very confusing, as identical names have been used at different times to designate both keys. Upper Matecumbe Key is the location of the original settlement site of Islamorada. There are a number of Indian mounds and habitation sites located here.

Lignumvitae Key
is an island in the upper Florida Keys. It is located due north of, and less than one mile from the easternmost tip of Lower Matecumbe Key. The island has the Keys' highest point above sea level of 19 feet (5.8 m),[1] which beats the island of Key West's Solares Hill by 1 foot (0.30 m). The dark green island is covered with rare tropical hardwood (Lignum vitae) trees.

Records of the ownership of Lignumvitae Key go back to 1843, including the years of 1919-1953 when the Matheson family of Miami owned the island. The island was purchased by Dr. Edwin C. Lunsford, Sr. and two other investors in 1953. Charlotte and Russell Neidhauk lived on the island and served as caretakers during this period. The coral bedrock house they lived in still stands today. On March 2, 1971 Lignum Vitae and nearby Shell Keys were purchased by the State of Florida, and Lignum Vitae became Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Park. The key is called Cayo de la Leña (Spanish for "Firewood Key") on an unsigned Spanish chart of 1760.

Lower Matecumbe Key
is an island in the upper Florida Keys. It is located on U.S. Route 1 between mile markers 75--78.
All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.
It is home to the main base of the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.
The island lies to the southwest of Upper Matecumbe Key, and to the northeast of Craig Key.
This key is the site of a number of Indian mounds and middens, most of which were destroyed during the building of the Overseas Railroad. A number of natural wells were also located here, at the northeast end of the key. These wells were well known to early seafaring men as the most reliable source of fresh water in the Keys. They, too were destroyed during the railroad era, and the location of their site has been lost. The southwestern end of the key is the site of a former sand mining operation.

Islamorada,
"Village of Islands" is an incorporated village in Monroe County, Florida, on the islands of Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plantation Key in the Florida Keys.

The village was incorporated on November 4, 1997. Prior to this date, Islamorada was only considered to be on the island of Upper Matecumbe Key. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 6,846. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 7,033.[1].
The name "Islamorada", meaning "purple island", comes from early Spanish explorers in the area. Its pronuciation has been Anglicized to aisle-a-more-AH-dah. Islamorada was hit almost directly by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, causing 423 deaths. Islamorada is also home to the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base of the Boy Scouts of America.