Key West, Florida
- Incorporated in 1828
- Situated in the southwestern end of the Florida Keys
- People born in Key West are known as "conchs"
Ernest Hemingway first visited Key West in 1928 on the recommendation of friend and fellow writer, John Dos Passos. Hemingway and second wife Pauline Pfeiffer purchased a home on the island in 1931 using money given to them by Pauline's Uncle Gus. The home is located at 907 Whitehead Street and is now the site of the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum.
The Key West years were incredibly productive years for Hemingway. He worked on the books, Death in the Afternoon, Green Hills of Africa, To Have and Have Not, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and two of his most memorable short stories, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."
Hemingway lived on and off in Key West for twelve years. He once described it as "the St. Tropez of the poor." One of his favorite haunts in Key West was Sloppy Joe's Bar.
