Editing Key West (section)

=== "Conchs" ===
{{main|Conch (people)}}
{{See also|Wrecking (shipwreck)#Wrecking in the Florida Keys|l1=Wrecking in the Florida Keys}}
[[File:NSRW Turtles.png|thumb|left|Captured [[sea turtle]]s in Key West, circa 1900]]
Many of the early residents of Key West were immigrants from the [[Bahamas]], known as [[Conch (people)|Conchs]] (pronounced "conks"'), who arrived in increasing numbers after 1830. Many were sons and daughters of Loyalists who fled to the nearest Crown soil during the [[American Revolution]].<ref>Windhorn, Stan & Langley, Wright ''Yesterday's Key West'' p.13</ref>  In the 20th century many residents of Key West started referring to themselves as ''Conchs'', and the term is now generally applied to all residents of Key West. Some residents use the term "Conch" (or, alternatively, "Saltwater Conch") to refer to a person born in Key West, while the term "Freshwater Conch" refers to a resident not born in Key West but who has lived in Key West for seven years or more.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19990124/ai_n10499943 |title=The key to restoring conchs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311212707/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19990124/ai_n10499943 |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |access-date=September 21, 2006}}</ref> The true original meaning of ''Conch'' applies only to someone with European ancestry who immigrated from the Bahamas, however. It is said that when a baby was born, the family would put a conch shell on a pole in front of their home.

Many of the black Bahamian immigrants who arrived later lived in [[Bahama Village]], an area of Old Town next to the [[Truman Annex]].