Southernmost Point Buoy — Key West

The painted concrete buoy at the corner of South Street and Whitehead Street is the kind of landmark that earns its crowd. Erected by the City of Key West in 1983, it stands roughly twelve feet tall and carries a claim — "Southernmost Point Continental U.S.A." and "90 Miles to Cuba" — that is close enough to true to feel meaningful when you're standing there after a full day on the Overseas Highway. Worth knowing: the buoy's southernmost claim is technically contested. A publicly accessible beach at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park sits farther south, and the actual geometric tip of the island is on Navy property closed to civilians. The buoy is, however, the southernmost publicly accessible landmark of its kind in the continental U.S., and that's what riders are really after.

As of late 2025, the original corner at South and Whitehead is closed for seawall and roadway reconstruction. The City of Key West placed a full-scale replica at Duval Pocket Park, 1400 Duval Street — about a block away — while the work continues, with a targeted return to the original site by late 2026. Confirm the current status with a local source before routing your day around the original corner. Wherever the buoy is standing, the photo queue is real: midday brings tour groups and cruise visitors; early morning or evening cuts the wait considerably and gives better light.