County Past
Home › Florida › Monroe County

Monroe County, Florida

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

—newspaper titles
—digitized titles
61historic places
—earliest paper
1823formed
82,874pop. 2020
3cemeteries
—CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The National Register of Historic Places includes 61 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1968; 5 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near Key West, Islamorada, Key Largo.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers

Library of Congress

Newspaper directory data for Florida is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Monroe titles at the Library of Congress.

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

28 of 61 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

61 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
AFRICAN QUEENKey LargoStructure1992
Adderley, George, HouseMarathonBuilding1992
African Cemetery at Higgs BeachKey WestSite2012
Alligator Reef LightIslamoradaStructure2011
American Shoal LightSummerland KeyStructure2011
Angustias Shipwreck SiteLaytonSite2006
Armory, The (Additional Documentation)Key WestBuilding1971
Bat Tower-Sugarloaf KeySugarloaf KeySite1982
Bear Lake Mounds Archeological DistrictFlamingoDistrict1996
Cane PatchEverglades CitySite1996
Carysfort LighthouseKey LargoStructure1984
Chaves Shipwreck SiteIslamoradaSite2006
Crane PointMarathonBuilding2021
Dry Tortugas National ParkKey WestDistrict1992
El Gallo Indiano Shipwreck SiteLaytonSite2006
El Infante Shipwreck SitePlantationSite2006
El Rubi Shipwreck SiteTavernierSite2006
Florida Keys MemorialIslamoradaObject1995
Fort Jefferson National MonumentDry Tortugas IslandsDistrict1970
Fort Zachary Taylor NHLKey WestStructure1971
Gato, Eduardo H., HouseKey WestBuilding1973
HA. 19 (Japanese Midget Submarine) NHLKey WestStructure1989
Hemingway, Ernest, House NHLKey WestBuilding1968
Herrara Shipwreck SiteIslamoradaSite2006
INGHAM (USCGC) NHLKey WestStructure1992
Indian KeyLower Matecumbe KeySite1972
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and ReserveKey LargoSite1972
Key West Historic DistrictKey WestDistrict1971
Key West Historic District (Boundary Increase)Key WestDistrict1983
LaBranche Fishing CampIslamoradaBuilding1997
Lignumvitae Key Archeological and Historical DistrictIslamoradaDistrict1999
Little White HouseKey WestBuilding1974
Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical MuseumKey WestBuilding1972
Matecumbe Methodist ChurchIslamoradaBuilding2020
Matecumbe Methodist Church CemeteryIslamoradaSite2021
Mud Lake Canal NHLFlamingoSite2006
Old Post Office and CustomshouseKey WestBuilding1973
Overseas Highway and Railway BridgesFlorida KeysStructure1979
Overseas Highway and Railway Bridges (Boundary Increase)Key LargoDistrict2004
Pigeon Key Historic DistrictPigeon KeyDistrict1990
Porter, Dr. Joseph Y., HouseKey WestBuilding1973
Rock Mound Archeological SiteKey LargoSite1975
Rookery MoundEverglades CitySite1996
SAN FELIPE Shipwreck SiteIslamoradaSite1994
SAN JOSE Shipwreck SitePlantation KeyStructure1975
SAN PEDRO (shipwreck)IslamoradaSite2001
San Francisco Shipwreck SiteLaytonSite2006
Sand Key LighthouseKey WestStructure1973
Sloppy Joe's BarKey WestBuilding2006
Sombrero Key LightMarathonStructure2012
Sueco de Arizon Shipwreck SiteLaytonSite2006
Ten Thousand Islands Archeological DistrictEverglades CityDistrict1996
Thompson Fish House, Turtle Cannery and KraalsKey WestBuilding1994
Tres Puentes Shipwreck SiteIslamoradaSite2006
U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, Key West StationKey WestBuilding1973
US Naval StationKey WestDistrict1984
USCG Cutter DUANEKey LargoStructure2002
USS ALLIGATORIslamorandaSite1996
Veterans of Foreign Wars Walter R. Mickens Post 6021 and William Weech American Legion Post 168Key WestBuilding2012
WESTERN UNION (schooner)Key WestStructure1984
West Martello Tower (Additional Documentation)Key WestBuilding1976

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Monroe was formed in 1823 (1823-07-03) from St.

MONROE created by Florida Territory from ST. JOHNS.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

Monroe County population from 1830 to 2020 (Census historical series).

83k42k51718301840188019201930196020002020
183018401860188019001920194019501960198020002020
5176882,91310,94018,00619,55014,07829,95747,92163,18879,58982,874

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

National Park Service sites nearby

NPS

Park units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).

SiteTypeDist.
Everglades National ParkPark unit39.0 km
Big Cypress National PreservePark unit41.9 km

Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

3 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 3 of 3 listed
NameLatLon
Key West Cemetery24.55634-81.795
Memorial Gardens Cemetery24.66876-81.34539
Southern Keys Cemetery24.60007-81.66382
Historical populated places — 1 of 1
NameLatLon
Craig24.83875-80.75812

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for Monroe County, Florida

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.