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Monroe County, which includes the western most fringe of islands, or keys, of the great West Indian group, has the unique distinction of giving the boundary lines to both the eastern and western limits of the United States, and, if Porto Rico is not taken into account, to the southern. Key West, its capital, was for years the most populous city in Florida, but now ranks fifth [1923]. In the naval and international affairs of the western continent, it has been considered by common military and diplomatic consent the key to control of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. Since Florida became American territory, Key West has therefore been an established military and naval base, and is, moreover, the gateway to the Panama Canal.
The ten thousand islands, embracing 700 square miles, and now included within the bounds of Monroe County, include those which lie south of Biscayne Bay, or Dade County. Key West is the largest of the coastal chain of islets, which protrude into the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico and form a clear outlook into the Caribbean Sea toward the east. It has an area of about 2,000 acres. Still farther west, and within the bounds of Monroe County are such minor keys as Cotteral's and Marquesas.
The continental portion of Monroe County embraces the extreme southern points of the peninsula of Florida, and includes the famous Cape Sable, an ancient landmark to the navigators of the southern seas of the New World. North of Cape Sable is Ponce de Leon Bay, and still farther along the northwest coast of the county is the commencement of the long chain of Gulf keys known as the Ten Thousand Islands. This small portion of Monroe County adds three or four hundred miles to its land area, bringing the total to 1,125 [1923].
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