City Profile: Marathon

By VISIT FLORIDA staff
Published: February 26, 2008
Last Updated On: November 28, 2011

Text Size A A A

Related Cities & Topics:

Florida Keys

Marathon

The view from the Seven Mile Bridge alone is worth the trip to this island. See what else Marathon has to offer.

Located as it is very nearly at the mid-point of the Keys, Marathon justly deserves its appellation of "Heart of the Keys." And a busy heart it is. What began as a tiny fishing village in the early 1800s has become a bustling metropolis replete with boutiques, a country club, hotels, motels, and restaurants ranging from elegant to express.

Marathon boasts tarpon, sailfish, dolphin, and bonefish tournaments throughout the year.

Key Vaca, the island on which Marathon sits, probably received its name through a corruption of the original Spanish Cayos de Vaccas, or cow keys. Since there is no record of the four-footed variety of cow being prominent in the area, the name most likely refers to manatees or sea cows. There were probably a large number of these creatures here in the 1700s when Spaniards were exploring the area. Other keys include Duck Key, Boot Key and Grassy Key. Marathon itself was once a base camp for Henry Flagler's railroad. In fact, "Flagler's Folly" (the railroad) gave Marathon its name. Record has it that Flagler was getting on in years and worried that he wouldn't see the railroad's completion to Key West. He made a plea to railroad workers to finish in his lifetime. Two years of "marathon" work began to bring the railroad to Key West.

Having had its ups and downs since then, the community is now a sizable resort area with sportfishing its primary attraction. Marathon boasts tarpon, sailfish, dolphin, and bonefish tournaments throughout the year. Year-round the back country on the bayside is a popular spot to catch tarpon, trout, grouper, snapper, and other "bottom fish." Party boats take groups out to the wrecks and reefs on trips lasting a few hours or several days. In spring and early summer, charter boats carry anglers out to the Gulf Stream to catch the mighty marlin.

The island also boasts a nine-hole golf course, sport resorts, and a resident population of more than 9,000. It's from Marathon that travelers begin their breathtaking drive over the Seven Mile Bridge, a vantage point unsurpassed for taking in the sheer sweep of the Straits of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.