BiggerPockets

The Key To The Keys

The Keys, sometimes known as the Florida Keys, are such a unique and defining part of our amazing Sarasota scenery; we are really the only part of the USA that can boast of such an exciting backdrop to our state.

Strange name, the Keys... many have pondered over the origins, although most just get out there and enjoy them. Could they be named because hopping them is the 'key' to this unique paradise? Or is it because Islands necessarily have so many 'quays'?

We do have many of them in our Sarasota area, including Lido Key, Saint Armand Key, Otter Key, Coon Key and Bird Key. Parts of Siesta Key and the large Longboat Key are included in the Sarasota area.

The definition of the word key is usually given as a long, low island most often composed of sand. Some dictionaries add that they can be composed of coral also. Webster's define a geographic key as a ledge; all could be true at once.

One thing is for sure, the white and soft sandy beaches of the Keys are truly amongst the most quality beaches in the world. The secret is out and the keys attract an international population year round - but especially in the winter months.

Every imaginable water sport is available here in the 2,900 square nautical miles encompassing the entire archipelago of the Florida Keys. It is also home to a unique sub-tropical marine eco-system and the most extensive living coral reef in the USA.

A Spanish expedition in 1770 is the first recorded European landing in the area. They were insulted in Spanish (!) by the local natives, who had apparently picked up a few choice words on a previous (unrecorded) visit from Spanish 'tourists'.

It would seem that it was from the Spanish that Florida's barrier islands first started to be called 'keys'. A Spanish map dating from the 1500s shows these islands referred to as 'cayo'. Cayo or cay (pronounced kee) is the Spanish word for an islet.

For many years the barrier islands were largely disregarded, but in the early 1900s they attracted the attention of circus magnate, John Ringling. Together with Owen Burns they built bridges, dredged and filled and eventually opened a resort of seasonal homes. The sun-seekers who flocked here in those days were called snowbirds!

Snowbirds still come here to enjoy those same pleasures of a hundred years ago. Many North Americans have their second home here, and realty prices stay stable in these southern hideaways.

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