Bahama Village
Bahama Village is a 16-block neighborhood named in honor of many original Bahamian residents. Bordered by Whitehead, Southard, Fort and Louisa Streets, the historic Black community is now in the midst of gentrification.
Walking along Whitehead Street.
The Southernmost Point Buoy was established as a tourist attraction in 1983. Anchored in concrete, it is located in what it said to the be southernmost location of the Continental United States.
The former Saint Stephen AME Zion Church was constructed from locally quarried lime stone and coral rock. The church closed its doors in 1940.
The Coral City Elks Lodge # 610 at 1107 Whitehead Street.
US 1 enters Old Town Key West on Truman Avenue. Originally known as Division Street, the thoroughfare was renamed after President Harry S. Truman in 1948.
The Newman United Methodist Church at 410 Truman Avenue.
The Key West Lighthouse was completed in 1847. The adjacent Keeper’s Quarter was erected in 1887.
Looking south down Truman Avenue in Bahama Village.
Completed in 1923, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Bahama Village has been a religious, social, and political center of Key West’s Black community.
The Frederick Douglass Gym in Bahama Village at 111 Olivia Street.
Petronia Street
Petronia is a narrow street lined with a mix of residential and commercial structures along the border of Bahama Village. It was once home to a number of businesses catering to the neighborhood’s Black, Bahamian, and Cuban influences.
The Cornish Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church at 702 Whitehead Street was constructed in 1885. It is the legacy of a free Black community in Key West that existing prior to the Civil War.
Photograph tour of historic Key West by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com