The Southernmost point in the continental United States is claimed to be located in Key West, Florida

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...

, at the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street.

History

The Southernmost point was originally just marked with a sign, which was often stolen. In response to this, the city of Key West erected the now famous concrete buoy in 1983.

Today it is one of the most visited and photographed attractions in Key West. During the day there are usually several street vendors present selling various souvenirs and conch

Conch

A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....

 shells.

Controversy

The claim is not accurate. Florida's official southernmost point is Ballast Key

Ballast Key

Ballast Key is an island in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is the southernmost point of land in the contiguous United States. It is also the only privately owned land within the boundaries of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge.Located in the Outlying Islands of...

, a privately owned island just south and west of Key West. Signs on the island strictly prohibit unauthorized visitors. During low tides, several sand bars farther south than Ballast Key are exposed, the southernmost one of which is Sand Key

Sand Key Light

Sand Key Light is located six nautical miles southwest of Key West, Florida, between Sand Key Channel and Rock Key Channel, two of the channels into Key West. It is located on a reef that is intermittently covered by sand. At times the key has been substantial enough to have trees, and in 1900 nine...

.

Additionally, the point is not even the southernmost point on the island of Key West. Land on the Truman Annex

Truman Annex

Truman Annex is both a neighborhood and military installation in Key West, Florida, United States. It is the part of the island that is west of Whitehead Street, with the exception of Bahama Village. It is where the winter White House for President Harry S. Truman is located from its days as part...

 property just west-southwest of the buoy is the true southernmost point on the island, but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 land and cannot be entered by civilian tourists. Also, the private yards directly to the southeast of the buoy and the beach areas of Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor

The Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Site, better known simply as Fort Taylor, , is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida....

 all lie farther south than the buoy.

The claim on the buoy stating "90 miles to Cuba" is a rounded number, since Cuba, at its closest point is 94 statute (81 nautical) miles due south.

In popular culture

In Callahan's Key (2001) by Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...

 it is noted that "The famous, oft-photographed marker at The Southernmost Point...is not."

A subplot of Robert Tacoma

Robert Tacoma

Robert Tacoma is an American writer living in Gainesville, Florida. His novels to date are set primarily in that state, particularly in Key West...

's second novel, Key Weirder (2005), involves an interstate dispute over where the true southernmost point is located, and, therefore, where the monument should be placed.