Historic Key West City Cemetery Founded 1847 Offers Free Self-Guided Walking Tour

Joseph Yates Porter’s family plot anchors a 19‑acre spread on Solares Hill where the Historic Key West City Cemetery, founded in 1847, collects the island’s civic, social and maritime stories in sun‑washed vaults and crowded headstones. The cemetery sits at the center of Old Town Key West—halfway between the Historic Key West Seaport and West Martello Tower—and is surrounded by Angela Street, Frances Street, Olivia Street, Windsor Lane and Passover Lane. It is free to visit, and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation operates a numbered self‑guided map available at the entrance on Passover Lane.

Visitor basics and hours The cemetery is free to enter, with seasonal public hours listed as summer 7:00 am–7:00 pm and winter 7:00 am–6:00 pm. The walking tour map managed by the Historic Florida Keys Foundation is available at the small office at the northwest corner of Passover Lane and Angela Street; Floridarambler notes that office has “excellent free walking tour guides.” If you want a printed route, the Key West Cemetery Map / Self‑Guided Tour is set up with numbered sites that correspond to on‑site features.

Getting there and entrances Approach the cemetery from Old Town; the Passover Lane & Angela Street entrance is highlighted repeatedly as the recommended starting point because that is where the free maps and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation materials are located. Some commercial listings describe the tour as beginning at the cemetery’s “main gates” on Margaret and Angela streets—an address discrepancy that matters if you plan to join an organized paid product. Both references explicitly name Angela Street; confirm your exact start point if you are meeting a paid‑tour operator.

Self‑guided map versus paid audio tour You have two distinct ways to tour the grounds. The free option is the Historic Florida Keys Foundation’s numbered map, found at the Passover Lane entrance; Keywesttravelguide reproduces that map and encourages printing it via your browser’s print function. The commercial option is a self‑guided audio tour sold through third‑party platforms and promoted in hotel itinerary listings: HappyToVisit lists the audio tour at $29.99 per person, with an estimated duration of 75–90 minutes and narration “led by Frank Everhart, a nearly 30‑year resident.” Activities/Marriott and HappyToVisit instruct users to install the audio app and download the tour audio before arrival; the audio can be started, paused or restarted so the experience is self‑paced.

Note on the meeting‑point discrepancy: Floridarambler and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation point visitors to Passover Lane & Angela Street for free maps, while Activities/Marriott lists Margaret & Angela as the tour’s main gates. Both are in the same neighborhood; the difference likely reflects alternate partner logistics. If you purchase the paid audio or are joining a packaged itinerary, confirm the exact meeting location listed by the tour operator.

Highlights, monuments and local color The cemetery houses the USS Maine Mast Memorial, a monument to the U.S. Navy sailors killed when the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898—an event that helped trigger the Spanish‑American War. The grounds also include the B’nai Zion section, explicitly identified as the final resting place of Key West’s Jewish community and noted for gravestones “adorned with symbols steeped in tradition.” Floridarambler captures the site’s character as “quirky, crowded, colorful and full of history,” and calls out emotionally resonant features: statues of angels and lambs alongside an unusual sculpture described as “an odd one of a naked, bound woman.”

Wildlife and photographic moments Wildlife is part of the cemetery’s experience; Floridarambler notes “As everywhere, Key West chickens wander between the graves,” and Activities/Marriott adds roaming roosters and iguanas to the list of living sights among the stones. Photographers and history walkers will recognize images from local photographers credited in guide coverage—Bonnie Gross’s images are used in Floridarambler, and The Marker Key West credits Martha Hubbard—so attribute photos properly if you plan to reproduce them.

Notable graves and stories to seek out The numbered map captures dozens of biographies; the Keywesttravelguide excerpts identify several that tie local history to wider currents:

• Stones moved after the 1846 hurricane: Among the oldest markers are James Sawyer (d. November 1829) and Capt. John H. Sawyer (d. September 29, 1843), whose gravestones were relocated to this cemetery after Key West’s first graveyard was destroyed.

• Walter C. Maloney (1813–1884): A staunch Union supporter whose son fought for the Confederacy, Maloney delivered a City Hall dedication speech in 1876 that was published as Key West’s first local history, A Sketch of Key West, Florida; he also served as mayor.

• William Greene (1813–1860): Son of Pardon Greene—one of Key West’s founders—William died at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

• Porter family plot: Joseph Yates Porter (1847–1927) studied medicine in Philadelphia, served initially as an Army doctor at Fort Jefferson, and later became Florida’s first Public Health Officer, helping establish hospitals during yellow fever epidemics. Jessie Porter Newton (1898–1979), of that family plot, is credited with launching Key West’s historic preservation movement; her home was the Heritage House at 410 Caroline Street.

• Joseph Beverly Browne (1814–1888): A Virginia native who arrived in Key West as a teen, Browne served as marshal, postmaster, mayor and state legislator, and hosted Jefferson Davis after the Civil War.

These are entry points on the numbered map; Keywesttravelguide’s full map includes many more site descriptions for those who want to follow particular themes—maritime history, civic leaders, and preservation pioneers.

Interpretive context and visitor impressions The site is marketed and experienced as an “authentic peek into the island’s eccentric past” by commercial tour operators, and as “an amazing peaceful spot to visit and take a walk back in history” by local guides. A TripAdvisor review quoted in Floridarambler captures how many visitors approach the cemetery: “Peaceful and Calming Here lies the story of Key West! Grab the brochure and map and follow the history of the early Keys. Fascinating people who contributed to the growth of Key West are buried here. A really interesting place to visit.” That mix of solemn memorial and lively local color—chickens wandering, odd statuary, and layered histories—drives the cemetery’s reputation as one of the island’s most visited historic sites.

Practical, sourced tips for touring

• Pick up the free, numbered map at the Passover Lane & Angela Street office—the Historic Florida Keys Foundation operates and manages the walking tour map located at that entrance.
• If you buy the paid audio product, expect a 75–90 minute self‑paced tour, priced at $29.99 per person in HappyToVisit listings; the audio is delivered through a mobile app you should install and download before arriving.
• Use the Keywesttravelguide map if you want a printable route; the guide explicitly instructs users to print the map via the browser’s print function.
• Be prepared to encounter wildlife and close‑up headstones; dress and behave respectfully around graves and memorials.

Media details and timestamps Floridarambler’s guide to the cemetery is explicitly marked as last updated on January 6, 2026, and local photographic credits in guide material include Bonnie Gross and Martha Hubbard. If you intend to republish images or site photographs, obtain the correct photo credits and permissions from the photographers or publisher.

A short verification note for planners The free admission and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation’s map at Passover Lane are consistent across local guide reporting, but commercial tour listings and hotel itineraries use alternate language about gates and meeting points. Confirm the exact start location with the operator for any paid product and recheck current seasonal hours before you go; published guide pages list summer hours as 7:00 am–7:00 pm and winter hours as 7:00 am–6:00 pm, but hours can change.

Final point The Historic Key West City Cemetery is both a municipal archive in stone and a lived piece of Old Town—19 acres that map Key West’s civic leaders, epidemics, maritime ties and preservation champions, all accessible with a free map from the Historic Florida Keys Foundation or with a paid audio narrative for deeper color. Whether you follow the numbered sites to a USS Maine memorial or linger at the Porter family plot, the cemetery frames local history in a way that remains free, walkable and unmistakably keyed to the island’s eccentric past.