Monroe County is the southernmost county of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,874. Its county seat is Key West. Monroe County includes the islands of the Florida Keys
The Monroe County Courthouse in Key West
The Overseas Highway is a 113-mile highway carrying U.S. Route 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 Ex
Overseas Highway and Railway bridges, Florida Keys
Construction of the original highway next to Matecumbe railroad station
Eight bridge piers that would have carried the original alignment of the Overseas Highway to Long Key can be seen at Mile Marker 73. They serve as a memorial to the veterans who were killed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935.
Many of the railroad bridges, such as the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge, were retrofitted to accommodate automobile traffic for the Overseas Highway. These bridges were replaced by more modern bridges in the early 1980s (the bridge pictured here in 2006 had been severed to prevent pedestrian access).