Southernmost Point Buoy

The Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West, Florida, is a brightly painted concrete buoy at the corner of Whitehead Street and South Street. The city installed it on September 10, 1983, as a tourist attraction. It is about 3.7 m (12 feet) tall and 2.1 m (7 feet) wide and bears the inscription “Southernmost Point Continental U.S.A.”; it also says that Cuba is 90 miles away, although the actual distance is about 94 miles (roughly 150 km). Local artist Danny Acosta painted it and repainted it after damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017.

It is not actually the southernmost point, though: according to Wikipedia, the true southernmost point of the U.S. lies on Ballast Key, about 16 km (10 miles) away, and on Key West itself the southernmost land point is on Navy property in the Truman Annex, which is closed to civilians.

Important for your planning: the original buoy has been fenced off since September 2025 because of seawall reconstruction (as of October 2026). A replica stands for photos at the Duval Street Pocket Park (1400 Duval Street), about one block from the original. There is no official date for the original buoy’s return; reopening is not expected before spring 2027 (as of October 2026). According to Afar, thousands of visitors come by every day; it is quieter early in the morning or in the evening.