Key West and the Florida Keys are known for many different things like the Southernmost Buoy, Duval Street & Sloppy Joe’s Bar, but its elevation above sea-level isn’t one of them!
Located in the smack-dab middle of Old Town is Solares Hill, a tiny bump in the road for unsuspecting tourist and the name of the highest point of land on the island of Key West in the lower Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida for locals and historians. To most locations around the world this would be known as the ‘Lowlands’, the peak elevation of the hill is a mere 18 feet or 5.5 meters above the ocean sea top and is the main reason that Key West has endured so many floods during hurricanes over its entire history.
This peak is also a small footnote in the Civil War that is left out of 99.9% of all history books unless you’re from Key West… the reason why this spot was in the Civil War will be answered in a future blog (yes, that’s called a tease). š The crest of Solares hill is next to the historic Key West Cemetery in the section of the island called Old Town. Solares Hill has also been the name of a weekly newspaper published on the island and released on Sundays. I’m pictured in the photo with arms stretched out (I’m that tiny speck) upon Key West’s elevation-sensation as if I’ve conquered Mt. Everest or the summit of K2.
You can find Solares Hill at the corner of Angela Street & Windsor Lane and then looking to see which direction is the highest… you might need to bring a carpenter’s level to be sure! š
Shoestring Weekends Blog 
When my children were small,we lived at 706 Elizabeth St…just a hop skip and a jump from the highest point…Conch trains stopped to announce the tourists were sitting on top the “Highest Point” in Key West.One of the most beautiful areas we every lived..I miss it.
I have spent the last 2 years rehabbing and gutting 615 Angela st, 2 doors away from the highest elevation……right next to the ruins of the Sweeney Coca Cola ruins, also used by the military……interesting story
There was a Key West newspaper named Solares Hill.
“In a fit of budget-cutting last week, the Key West Citizen finally put the ax to Solares Hill newspaper, one of the longtime icons of Key West journalism. As part of the blood-letting, Editor Mark Howell and Associate Editor Nadja Hansen both lost their jobs. Before the Citizen bought the belly-up publication for a song back in 1998, it had been published off and on since 1971, usually every-other-week with vacation time off during the summer. It only became a weekly in 1994 after Key West The Newspaper (KWTN) hit the streets as a 52-weeks-a-year publication.”