Windley Key facts for kids
The sign at the front entrance to Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park
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 Windley Key
Location in Florida
Windley Key
Location in Caribbean
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Gulf of Mexico |
| Coordinates | 24°57′00″N 80°35′52″W / 24.9500°N 80.5978°W |
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| State | Florida |
| County | Monroe |
Windley Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses it at approximately mile markers 84–85.5, between Plantation Key and Upper Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated.
The key is home to Theater of the Sea, a popular tourist attraction since 1946. It also contains a Florida State Park Service geological site, and the popular Holiday Isle resort.
History
Prior to the building of the Overseas Railroad, there were two separate islands there, known as the Umbrella Keys. Railway construction involved filling between these two keys which then became known as Windley Key, after a settler. This is the site of several extensive quarries which for many years supplied building stone, known locally as keystone. The railway station on Windley Key was known as Quarry.
