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Sugarloaf Key is one of the larger islands in the lower Florida Keys, about 15 miles east of Key West.
It is located between Park Key and Cudjoe Key.
U.S. Route 1 (or the Overseas Highway) crosses the key at approximately mile markers 19--20.5.
Its earlier names were Glen Island and Perkey. Due to its loop shape it is sometimes referred to as two separate Keys; Sugarloaf Key and Lower Sugarloaf Key, separated by Upper Sugarloaf Sound and Park Key.
It is thought to have been named Sugarloaf because either an Indian mound there on the east side of (upper) Sugarloaf Key, north of the present highway was said to look like an old-fashioned loaf of sugar, or for the sugarloaf pineapples that were once grown in the area.
It is the upper portion of one large island. The island is "U"-shaped, with Upper Sugarloaf Sound and Park Key in the center. Although larger in area than Lower Sugarloaf Key, it is less densely populated.
The upper portion of the island (Sugarloaf Key, also known locally as Upper Sugarloaf Key) has a public school, church, restaurant, and KOA campground. The lower portion of the island (Lower Sugarloaf Key), although smaller in area, is more densely populated and is also called Sugarloaf Shores. It has Sugarloaf Lodge and restaurant, an airport, a volunteer fire department, and Sugarloaf Key bat tower, built in 1929 and listed as a historic site. The tower was put there by a man named Perky to control the mosquito problem in the Lower Keys, but when the bats were put in, they flew away. Mr. Perky intended to found a city named after himself, but did not succeed due to the local mosquitoes.
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Florida Keys |
Biscayne National Park |
Soldier Key, Ragged Keys, Boca Chita Key, Sands Key, Elliott Key, Adams Key, Old Rhodes Key, City of Islandia |
Upper keys |
Key Largo (island), North Key Largo (CDP), Key Largo (CDP), Tavernier (CDP), Plantation Key (island), Plantation Key (former CDP), Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Indian Key, Lignumvitae Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Village of Islamorada |
Middle keys |
Craig Key, Fiesta Key, Long Key, City of Layton, Conch Key, Duck Key (CDP), Grassy Key, Crawl Key, Long Point Key, Fat Deer Key, Key Vaca, City of Marathon, City of Key Colony Beach, Boot Key, Knight's Key, Pigeon Key |
Lower keys |
Little Duck Key, Missouri Key, Ohio Key, Sunshine Key, Bahia Honda Key, Spanish Harbor Key, West Summerland Key, No Name Key, Big Pine Key (CDP), Little Torch Key, Middle Torch Key, Big Torch Key, Ramrod Key, Summerland Key, Knockemdown Key, Cudjoe Key (CDP), Sugarloaf Key, Park Key, Lower Sugarloaf Key, Saddlebunch Keys, Shark Key, Geiger Key, Big Coppitt Key (CDP), East Rockland Key, Rockland Key, Boca Chica Key, Key Haven, Stock Island (CDP), Key West, Sigsbee Park, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, Wisteria Island |
Outlying islands |
Mule Keys, Ballast Key, Marquesas Keys, Dry Tortugas, Tortugas Bank |
Areas |
Florida Bay, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, National Key Deer Sanctuary, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Biscayne Bay, Biscayne National Park, Key West National Wildlife Refuge, Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge |
Other topics |
Monroe County, Conch Republic, Overseas Highway, Overseas Railroad, Card Sound Bridge, Seven Mile Bridge, Bahia Honda Bridge, Theater of the Sea, Hurricane Wilma, Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Key Deer, Ocean Reef Club, Key lime pie, Florida Keys Keynoter, Key West Citizen |