Tour the "dead center" of old town
on the CemetEry Tour

“I Told You I was Sick”, “Devoted Fan of Julio Iglesias” and other popular inscriptions… Key West’s Historic 1847 Cemetery is located in the “dead” center of Old Town, bounded by Angela, Margaret, Passover Lane (appropriately named), Frances and Olivia. The cemetery was moved to higher ground after the 1847 hurricane disinterred bodies from an earlier “bone yard” at the southernmost point. Port inspector Stephen Mallory reported: “The effects of the hurricane were terrible. The grave yard ... was entirely washed away and the dead were scattered throughout the forest, many of them lodged in trees.” These whitewashed above-ground tombs and statues are fascinating. A stroll through this historic graveyard reflects as much about Key West’s quirky character as any history lesson. The graveyard, still active, contains over 75,000 burials.

Each element on a grave has meaning. Victorian-era gravestone symbols include the calla lily (majestic beauty); lily of the valley (bride); a lamb or cherub (death of a child); urn (death of an adult); wreaths (eternity); rose (love); ivy (immortality); and clasped hands (farewell and friendship).

The main entry gates open at the corner of Margaret and Angela streets.
To begin—walk straight to the first corner at Palm and Magnolia Avenues. To the right: the crisply restored U.S.S. Maine Plot, dedicated on March 15, 1900, is circumscribed by an ornate wrought iron fence. The scrolled, black grillwork encircles a solitary bronze sailor, who overlooks the plain, white marble markers honoring the 27 sailors killed.

Walk northeast along Palm Avenue toward twin white posts that mark the entry to the 1868 Catholic Cemetery. En route, at the corner of Violet Street, you’ll pass by an 1892 metal archway with the inscription “A Los Martires de Cuba” (To the Cuban Martyrs). This sacred plot is marked by a tall, grey marble obelisk. The names etched there and carved into the open books represent a symbolic memorial to the slain heroes of the unsuccessful 1868 Cuban insurrection against Spain. The sole body entombed here is that of Cuban Consul Antonio Diaz Carrasco, buried in 1915.

Continuing along Palm Avenue, look to your left toward Angela Street, you may spot the unusual statue of a naked “bound woman,” at the 1966 tomb of Archibald Yates. Enter the Catholic sector, and the grand Toppino Mausoleum stands before you. Toppino and Sons Construction paved the Overseas Highway from Miami. The family plot of Eduardo H. Gato, a leader of the American cigar industry, is marked by a granite cross and lies near the central Priests’ Plot. While Gato himself was lain to rest in Cuba, his wife Mercedes (1847-1903) was buried here.

Nearby, the headstone of E. Lariz (1923-1986) reads “Devoted Fan of Singer Julio Iglesias.” Exit this section and walk southeast along Laurel Street. You will pass an expansive bricked lot featuring three pink granite sarcophagi memorializing three Yorkshire terriers and a statue of Elfina, a pet deer, along with members of the prominent Otto family. Dr. Otto, who hailed from Prussia, served as a medical officer at Fort Jefferson. Continue along Laurel to Seventh Avenue. Turn left and look for the black archway with the letters “B’nai Zion” marking the Jewish Cemetery entry. To your immediate left is the most visited spot, a large white crypt with a facing tablet inscribed “I Told You I was Sick.” B. Pearl Roberts was a local hypochondriac. Reverse direction; walk southwest along Seventh Ave., and note the uplifted marble casket of P. Piedad L.F. de Ayala, a small Cuban woman whose grandfather penned the national anthem of Cuba. Just across Sixth Avenue and beneath the towering ficus, a marble headstone, to D. Kaufelt, has been engulfed by century-old tree roots.

Continue along Sixth Avenue, to view a 100-year old example of the Everlast Company’s cast metal marker of “white bronze,” at Susan Johnson’s (d. 1907) gravesite. Walk southeast on Violet Street to discover the box tomb of Sloppy Joe Russell, Key West’s famed barkeep who died while fishing off Cuba with Hemingway (1890-1941). It is located on Eighth behind a painted eternal flame. Reverse direction and follow Violet to Fourth Avenue. Turn left (southwest). Find the white marble stone marking the grave of Thomas Romer, a black Bahamian, a War
of 1812 privateersman and “good citizen for 65 of his 108 years!” It is signed by Gallagher, a local nineteenth century stone cutter.

On Second Avenue, the impressive gray marble shaft that rises tall (minus its toppled urn) marks the final resting place of William Curry, a Bahamian emigrant and reputedly Florida’s first millionaire. Continue walking northeast along Second Avenue past the plot of General Abraham Lincoln Sawyer, a 40-inch midget. Self-titled, Sawyer (1862-1939) traveled with carnivals. His final wish was to be buried in a full-size tomb. Finally, at the intersection of Magnolia: to the left lies the Harris Family Plot, where a child’s grave is decorated with a small white angel. Key West’s graveyard is a spot illumined by time, tropics and history. Indeed it is somehow one of the most alive spots in Key West. TOP