Key West Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Solares Hill
Solares Hill is the name of the highest point of land on the island of Key West in the lower Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida.The peak elevation of the hill is above sea level....
on the island of Key West
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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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 northeast section of the Old Town
Old Town, Key West
Old Town is the name given to the historic district of the island of Key West, Florida.It is basically the western half of the island, with the exception of the Historic Seaport district....
area of the island.
History
In 1847 it was established at its current location after a 1846 hurricane washed dead bodies from the earlier cemetery out of the coastal sand dunes on Whitehead Point near the West Martello TowerWest Martello Tower
The West Martello Tower is a historic martello tower in Key West, Florida, United States. It is located at 1100 Atlantic Boulevard. On June 24, 1976, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places....
s. 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 documentary A Cemetery Special
A Cemetery Special
A Cemetery Special is a 2005 PBS television documentary film by Rick Sebak of WQED. The documentary profiles cemeteries and cemetery-related businesses and events across the United States.The following cemeteries are covered in the film:...
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Sections of the cemetery
Sculptures
