Key West, Iowa
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Key West, Iowa is a village near the extreme southern end of Dubuque, Iowa. Parts of the community are now within the City of Dubuque, while others still lie in unincorporated Dubuque County. Owing to the presence of U.S. Highways 151, 61, and 52, and the nearby Dubuque Regional Airport, the area is home to a growing number of businesses. Some of these are high tech companies being built in the Dubuque Technology Park, to the east. Development in the area will likely increase rapidly following the planned construction of the city's Southwest Arterial, an extension of Iowa Highway 32.
The village does have a number of local establishments that allow it to maintain a certain degree of autonomy. It has its own church, St. Joseph's - Key West Catholic Church, two schools (St. Joseph's - Key West Elementary, Table Mound Elementary), a cemetery (Mt. Olivet), Fire/EMS department, and a hotel (Heartland Inn).
The town was named as an ill-fated attempt to copy Key West, Florida, the flourishing and much-coveted town in the famous Florida Keys with the same name. Unfortunately, the desired tourism never materialized. However, the village is located southwest of Dubuque, which is called the "Key City," and thus the name could be in reference to the much larger city.