Islamorada, Florida
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Islamorada (also sometimes Islas Morada) is an incorporated
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. It is located directly between
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
on five
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
s—
Tea Table Key Tea Table Key also known as "Terra's Key" is an island in the upper Florida Keys. It is located on U.S. 1 at mile marker 79. All of the key is within the Villages of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated. The island lies ...
,
Lower Matecumbe Key Lower Matecumbe Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys, United States, located on U.S. 1 between mile markers 75–78. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of November 4, 1997, when it was incorporated. It is home to the mai ...
,
Upper Matecumbe Key Upper Matecumbe Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys. U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 79–83.5, between Windley Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamor ...
, Windley Key and
Plantation Key Plantation Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway), between Key Largo and Windley Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of Nove ...
—in the Florida Keys.


History

The name ''Islamorada'' (), "purple island," came from early
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
explorers Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
in the area. Islamorada was the location of one of the stations of the
Overseas Railroad The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula. Work on the line ...
. Islamorada was hit almost directly by the
Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 The Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 was the most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record by pressure, with winds of up to 185 mph (297 km/h). The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and sec ...
, causing 423 deaths. A memorial, including the ashes of over 300 victims, exists today at
Overseas Highway The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys to Key West. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Rail ...
mile marker 82.
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
baseball player
Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
began visiting Islamorada in 1943 and for the next 45 years was the island's most well-known resident. After his retirement from baseball he became the national spokesman for
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
sporting goods, and became renowned for his abilities as a
fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...
. Over the decades, he hosted numerous celebrities at his Islamorada house and took them on local fishing trips. The village was incorporated on December 31, 1997. Prior to this date, "Islamorada" referred to the evolving community island of
Upper Matecumbe Key Upper Matecumbe Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys. U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 79–83.5, between Windley Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamor ...
. At the 2010
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, the village had a total
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 6,119.


Geography

Islamorada is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and (1.93%) is water. Islamorada is located approximately 1.5 hours driving time south of
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and approximately 2 hours driving time northeast of
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
. Islamorada is located approximately 19 nautical miles southwest of John Pennekamp Coral Reef. With its position between the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
, Islamorada is on migration routes for many large fish species. Therefore, Islamorada is informally known as the ''Sportfishing Capital of the World''.


Climate

Islamorada has a
tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
( Aw), similar to the rest of the Florida Keys.


Demographics

The community is registered in the census as Islamorada, Village of Islands.


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 7,107 people, 2,792 households, and 1,731 families residing in the village.


2010 census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 6,119 people, 2,882 households, and 1,673 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,692 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.54%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.72%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.38% Native American, 0.59%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.13%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.69% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 9.63% of the population. There were 2,882 households, out of which 17.04% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.13% were married couples living together, 5.76% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.95% were non-families. 31.78% of all households were made up of individuals, and 33.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.57. In the village, the population was spread out, with 13.86% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 35.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $41,522, and the median income for a family was $56,118. Males had a median income of $31,339 versus $25,670 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the village was $29,519. 6.9% of the population and 3.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 7.0% are under the age of 18 and 4.5% are 65 or older.


Neighborhoods

Official
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
s within the village are: * Lower Matecumbe Beach *
Matecumbe Matecumbe is a neighborhood within the village of Islamorada in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on the island of Upper Matecumbe Key. Geography It is located at , its elevation . Matecumbe consists ...
* Moorings Village * Plantation Key Colony


Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the Monroe County School District. * Zoned to Plantation Key School in
Plantation Key Plantation Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway), between Key Largo and Windley Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of Nove ...
*
Coral Shores High School Coral Shores High School is a senior high school in Islamorada, Florida, United States, with a Tavernier postal address. It is one of the two high schools of the Monroe County School District. History 1952 was its year of establishment. In Septe ...
* Treasure Village Montessori Charter School


Library

Islamorada Public Library-Helen Wadley Branch is part of the Monroe County Public Library (Florida Keys). The first public library in the Keys opened in Key West in 1853, and today there are five locations throughout the Keys that serve over 350,000 young people and adults. The current Islamorada library is housed in a
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
(WPA) building, built originally as the Matecumbe School in the late 1930s. It was designed to be hurricane proof. As the number of children attending the school increased, they were moved to a larger school and the building housed several other entities before opening as the Islamorada Branch of the Monroe County Library in 1966.It was not considered the “usual” library as it offered couches, tea and coffee. Today the building is a little bigger than it was when it first opened its doors in 1938. Two additions were made, one in 1983 and another in 1999. (Bertelli, 2015) The library was rededicated in 1983, in honor of Mrs. Helen Wadley, a true friend of the library. This branch is home to six WPA commissioned bas relief sculptures by Joan van Breeman.


Culture

The History of Diving Museum opened in 2005. It has featured exhibits about Diving With a Purpose and the USS Spiegel Grove, now an
artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many re ...
. Another popular tourist attraction is Robbie's Marina, which is well known for allowing guests to feed tarpon live fish.


Notable people

* Gene Hackman, actor * Jimmy Johnson, former college and NFL coach * Robert E. Rich, Jr.,
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of
Rich Products Rich Products Corporation (also known as Rich's) is a privately held multinational food products corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company was founded in 1945 by Robert E. Rich, Sr. after his development of a non-dairy whipped t ...


In popular culture

Islamorada is the location of the movie ''
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton (director), Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) who has become partners with Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert), a ...
''. Much of the action in the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...
'' takes place in and around Islamorada: *In the season 1 premiere episode, Islamorada is the
Academy Bus Academy Bus Lines is a bus company in New Jersey providing local bus services in northern New Jersey, line-run services to/from New York City from points in southern and central New Jersey, and contract and charter service in the eastern United ...
stop where John Rayburn is scheduled to pick up his brother Danny, and the station where John drops Danny off soon afterward. In both cases, the bus is a shiny-clean
Academy Bus Academy Bus Lines is a bus company in New Jersey providing local bus services in northern New Jersey, line-run services to/from New York City from points in southern and central New Jersey, and contract and charter service in the eastern United ...
. In episode 11, John drives Danny to the bus stop in Islamorada again, and Danny finally boards a Miami-bound, dirt-encrusted Sunnyside Coaches bus. *John and his sister's boyfriend Marco Diaz are both detectives in the
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...
Sheriff's Department; "Islamorada District" can be seen labeling their police boat. *In season 2, episode 6 (Part 19), Diana is running in Islamorada's Founders Park when she discovers her tire is flat; Danny's associate Ozzie Delveccio just happens to be nearby and changes her tire, leaving his prints on her tire iron. John notes the tire has been neatly cut, runs the prints, and confirms a connection between Ozzie and Danny. *In season 2, episode 7 (Part 20), Meg tells Marco that Sarah drowned in Whale Harbor, a well known harbor in Islamorada.


References


External links

* * Official site. * * * * {{Authority control Villages in Monroe County, Florida Seaside resorts in Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean Villages in Florida Former census-designated places in Florida