Florida Keys Memorial (Hurricane Monument)

The Florida Keys Memorial, better known as the Hurricane Monument, is a limestone obelisk above a low crypt at Mile Marker 81.5 in Islamorada, across from the library. It honors civilians and World War I veterans killed in the Labor Day Hurricane of September 2, 1935; the crypt holds victims’ cremated remains. This is a quick walk-around and a chance to read the markers, not an activity stop. Give it about ten minutes if you want a grounded piece of Keys history.

The 18-foot obelisk is carved with a tidal wave and wind-bent palms, with a bronze dedication plaque below. A 22-foot ceramic tile map of the Keys, from Key Largo to Marathon, covers the crypt. For a photo, step back far enough to get the obelisk and tiled crypt together; the palms show the monument in its roadside setting.

The Florida Division of the Federal Art Project designed the memorial, and WPA Zone 3 built it in 1937. About 5,000 people came to its dedication on November 14 that year. The work and gathering made this a public memorial for the whole island chain, not just a marker for one community.

The Labor Day Hurricane struck the Upper Keys on September 2, 1935, destroying much of the area and the Florida East Coast Railway. Many of the dead were World War I veterans housed in camps around Matecumbe while working on U.S. 1 through Depression-era relief programs. That history is what gives the small monument its weight; take time to read the dedication before heading back to the highway.