Truman Annex is both a neighborhood and military installation in

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 ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is the part of the island that is west of Whitehead Street, with the exception of

Bahama Village The following is a list of the neighborhoods within the city limits of Key West, Florida. Key West Island Bahama Village It is located southwest of downtown, in Old Town. It covers over a 16 block area that lies southwest of Whitehead Street an ...

.Truman Annex (Fort Zachary Taylor Annex) neighborhood, detailed profile
/ref> It is where the winter White House for President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

is located from its days as part of the former Naval Station Key West. The

Harry S. Truman Little White House The Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida was the winter White House for President Harry S Truman for 175 days during 11 visits. The house is located in the Truman Annex neighborhood of Old Town, Key West. History The ho ...

Key West, Florida 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 Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

was the winter White House for President Truman for 175 days during 11 visits. Formerly the Truman Annex Naval Station, this award-winning, mixed use redevelopment sits on 45 acres in the heart of the Key West historic district. Between 1973 and 1977 the distressed surplus US Navy property was released to be managed by the Government Services Administration. The City of Key West created the Key West Urban Redevelopment Agency which was for 12 years unsuccessful in developing a master plan for the site. In 1986 Pritam Singh purchased the 43-acre property from the GSA for a bid of $17 million and began the redevelopment initiative considered to be one of the most successful highly regulated and permitted real estate projects in Florida history. The Singh Company became one of the first private entities in the State of Florida to receive a formal development agreement under the State's Development of Regional Impact legislation. This complex redevelopment project of over 800,000 square feet was completed in 1996 with 425 classic conch style, single family homes, high end condominiums, a hotel, affordable housing, parks, marina, retail, commercial and museums. The community includes several designated National Register properties and most significantly the Little White House, the former vacation home of President Harry Truman which is now a historic house museum. The Truman Annex is one of the most lauded and awarded projects in US development history. Awards won include the 1994 Florida Design Arts Award from the Florida Arts Council among others.

History

The annex got its start in 1845 as part of

Fort Zachary Taylor The Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, better known simply as Fort Taylor (or Fort Zach to locals), is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida. ...

, a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

installation. The base was eventually taken over in 1947 as the "Fort Zachary Taylor Annex" to Naval Station Key West. New docks had been added in 1932 to make it a home base for submarines. The base was mostly decommissioned in 1974 because contemporary nuclear submarines were too large to use the facility. The Navy's primary installation in the area, Naval Air Station Key West, continues to operate about six miles (10 km) east of the annex on

Boca Chica Key Boca Chica Key is an island in the lower Florida Keys, about a mile () east of the island of Key West at its closest point. Its name is Spanish for "small mouth". It is mostly covered by salt marshes and mangrove trees, and is the home of the la ...

. The area around Fort Taylor, as well as the fort itself, is now under the control of the State of Florida as Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Much of the annex was sold to private developers who have made it a gated residential community (which does not create a barrier to visiting the Truman White House within this area), while were transferred to the City of Key West at no cost to be used for green space and to protect a neighborhood known as "Bahama Village" which is home to many citizens of African-Bahamian descent. The remainder continues to be utilized as a military installation and is known as Naval Air Station Key West - Truman Annex. Many refugees from the 1980

Mariel boatlift The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980. The term "" (plural "Marielitos") is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and En ...

arrived via the Truman Annex. The ship berthing dock and the Outer Mole (Harbor) have been retained by the Navy, which dredges the harbor and collects 40 percent of cruise ship docking fees. The Annex was renamed the "Truman Annex" after U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who spent his winters in Key West in what is now the annex.

History

References

External links