The history of key west starts off with the Caloosahatchee. The Caloosahatchee were an indigenous group of people who originally lived in south Florida along with other native tribes that include the Tequesta and Seminole Indians. The Caloosahatchee commonly relied on waters for there food source. Later on the tribe encountered Spanish explorers around the same time of the arrival of Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon discovered key west in 1521 on his expedition. Key west later on received the name Cayo hueso which means bone island in Spanish. On March 5^th 1822 Key west became a part of the united states also as Florida becoming a confederacy state key west stayed a part of the union. For the civil war in 1845 through 1866 Cubans were provided refuge and later on started owning thriving businesses in key west which would result in making Cuban cigars and it was due to Cuba’s ten year war. The areas in key west were named after people who are viewed as contributors of help building a sturdy foundation for key west. An example would be Duval street being named after territorial governor William, Pope Duval who has been in office from 1822 to 1834. With the name of key west’s county being Monroe county Monroe comes from the last name of president James Monroe. Over a period of time key west had an economy that changed over a period of time. The change was from ship wrecking to cigar production which took place in the 1800s. In 1890 the population of key west increased to closely 18,800 residents. Today in key west the population is at 26,990 people inhabiting key west occupying specific industries that help it grow as the prosperous place it is up until this point as underneath it lies an interesting history of people who arrived and made contributions to key west.

https://www.conchtourtrain.com/old-town-key-west.html

https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/calusa/calusa1.htm

https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/613/Monroe-County-Information-History

http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/key-west-population/

http://www.florida-keys-experience.com/history-of-key-west.html

         Like every place around the world key west has industries that helped bring profit. A long with tourist attraction salt manufacturing is a big industry in key west which is the production of salt, Wrecking which is taking the values from a shipwreck was a big part of the history of key west. Thirdly salvaging which is rescuing a ship or its cargo lost at sea and lastly turtling which is turtle hunting. Altogether those industries in key west made it a rich place. In 1847 the Key West lighthouse was built. The purpose a lighthouse serves is to guide lost ships and boats and to warn them. Demographically speaking the population is made up of white, blacks and Hispanics. According to http://www.keyshistory.org/keywest.html the cigar industry moved key west in the twentieth century of transportation. Do to the Hispanic population Cubans introduced cigars to key west resulting in the cigar industry. In the industry of public transportation Eduardo Hidalgo Gato introduced a mule powered street car that established a connection between Gatoville and the downtown street area in the eighteen hundreds. Today key west holds high tourists attraction with Americans traveling from all over the country to visit.

        Dry Tortugas National Park named by explorer Ponce De Leon, Provides for tourists beautiful beaches and snorkeling underwater. Another tourist attraction would be key west aquarium. Established in 1934 the aquarium provides tourist a look at fascinating sea life up close. Due to the keys tropical environment key west has exotic wild life that includes colorful butterflies of the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. Visitors are provided the opportunity to stroll amongst more than fifty butterfly species in a natural garden habitat. The tourism in key west offers something unique to outsiders who come to check it out as it’s a big contributor to key west as an industry

http://www.keyshistory.org/keywest.html

https://www.conchtourtrain.com/old-town-key-west.html

www.nps.gov/drto

 www.keywestbutterfly.com

www.keywestaquarium.com

      Like many places in America key west has been influenced by many cultures. A large contributing cultural influence in key west is the Cuban culture. Do to the fact that Cuba being south of key west and residing in the Caribbean there is a lot of documentation that confirms it. According to www.sunsetkeycottages.com a lot of the Cubans that helped shaped key west’s history are immortalized in the Key West Sculpture garden by Mallory Square. An individual that I can give who is immortalized in the sculpture garden is DeCespedes the son of a liberator who started a revolution at Bayamo and was elected mayor of key west in 1876. A thing that was introduced by the Cubans to key west were cigars. Cubans established businesses that were companys that sold hand rolled cigars that were manufactured in buildings. The cigar later on became known as the key cigar which helped key west gain profit by state wide distribution. Till this day a famous building also company that stands solid is the Gato Cigar building established by Eduardo Gato a Cuban immigrant left behind a testament of the history of key west. Furthermore later on in the late 1800s and early 1900s many Bahamians immigrated to key west. Just like Cuba being a country that resides in the Caribbean the Bahamas happens to be a closer country to Florida than Cuba is. The Bahamian ethnic group has owned a community called Bahama village along with the Bahamian English dialect being heard on the streets today. Key west also has unconventional places that serve Bahamian food. Bahamians also introduced exotic fruit baring trees such as Spanish limes, sea grapes, sapodilla, soursop, hog plums, scarlet plums and Jamaican apples. Another thing the Bahamian population introduced are festivals in Bahama village neighborhood.

https://www.sunsetkeycottages.com/activities/key-west/key-west-culture-history/

http://www.keyshistory.org/keywest.html

https://www.flkeysnews.com/entertainment/article179461521.html

        Like many places key west has an architectural style of its own. The architectural style of key west reflects its very own cultural heritage. However In key west a contributing factor that influenced the building style was weather and terrain. Being a region notoriously known in the tropics for hurricanes the buildings were developed to withstand potential damages strong winds could cause. Another factor that influenced the building method of key west were fires that occurred in old town key west and the result of the fires were metal roofing applied to the building structure. Many of the buildings in key west are also pastel colored due to the Caribbean influence. The building style of key west was also developed by Bahamian immigrants in the eighteenth century. For air to circulate well the houses are raised up in key west in a warm sunny tropical climate plus it prevents rotting from moisture on wood. The house styles have multicultural influences from the native or indigenous inhabitants, New England the Bahamas and Africa. Also the attic spaces are extended into bedrooms. To provide cross ventilation roof hatches are installed on roofs which is a concept borrowed from ships along with louvered shutters to block out tropical sun heat allowing breezes. Along with building methods of key west and environmental factors and cultural influences that shape the way key west is perceived I feel like key west sticks out because of the presents of famous artists that lived there including the pastel color use for the buildings in key west. Famous painters of key west were Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Jimmy Buffet and Mario Sanchez. The artist that lived in key west were around different periods and have all provided something for people who had appreciation for art. The legacy left behind by artist captures an audience of people that admire them which leads to tourist attraction like where Ernest Hemmingway once lived.

https://www.themarkerkeywest.com/experiences/key-west-art-heritage/

https://www.coolkeywest.com/architecture/

https://activerain.com/blogsview/2628796/conch-houses—a-uniquely-keys-style-architecture

https://fla-keys.com/news/article/9118/

https://floridakeys.com/key-west/arts/

         The place that I feel well connected with is Broward County, Florida. Being raised in Broward County, Florida exposed me to a tropical weather that makes me feel well connected to it. The reason I feel the tropical weather connects me to Broward County is because of my ethnic and racial origin having ancestors come from places similar to where I currently reside. Coming from an Afro Caribbean background mangos and other exotic fruits are plentiful depending on the season in Broward and where my mother comes from she’s always able to relate to the scenario of being excited picking fruits from a tree. Another thing that connects me to Broward County, Florida is the exposure to different ethnic cultural groups. No matter what diaspora people are able to connect and see how their traditions connect to one another and the exposure to the Latin American presence is inevitable. When growing up in Broward County, Florida you see many markets and food Takeout spots owned by various ethnic groups. I’ve seen markets owned by Cubans, South American Spanish speakers, Haitians, Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans, Indo Trinidadians and Indo Guyanese people who are descendant of east Indians imported by British colonist to work alongside enslaved Africans as indentured servants and slaves. Another thing that enamors me about Broward County, Florida is the wild life of many exotic creatures ranging from reptiles to fish. Living in south Florida I’ve seen exotic invasive species such as Snakeheads, Peacock bass, Curly tailed lizards and Jesus Christ lizards that can run on water with their two hind legs giving the lizard its name. Another feature of Broward County, Florida are its vast array of plants that could be medicinal such as Aloe, Castor bean and Sauceed. With Florida being a tropical place it is home to the orange which are widely grown throughout the state.