A monument was erected in 1937 in Islamorada, one of the towns washed away. A frieze depicts palm trees amid curling waves, fronds bent in the wind. In front of the sculpture, a ceramic-tile mural of the Keys covers a stone crypt, which holds victims' ashes from the makeshift funeral pyres. More than 4000 people attended the unveiling.
The monument still stands today and is maintained by locals and decedents of the victims.
Looking towards the moment down the walkway. . .
. . . a closeup of the monument itself. . .
. . .says “Dedicated to the Memory of the Civilans and War Veterans whose lives were lost in the Hurricane of September Second, 1935”. . .
. . .a tile mockup of the Florida Keys on top of stone crypt containing ashes of the victims. . .
. . .closeup of the coral that makes up the monument. . .
. . . says: “The Florida Keys Memorial, known locally as the "Hurricane Monument," was built to honor hundreds of American veterans and local citizens who perished in the "Great Hurricane" on Labor Day, September 2, 1935. Islamorada sustained winds of 200 miles per hour and a barometer reading of 26.36 inches for many hours on that fateful holiday; most local buildings and the Florida East Coast Railway were destroyed by what remains the most savage hurricane on record. Hundreds of World War I veterans who had been camped in the Matecumbe area while working on the construction of U.S. Highway One for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) were killed. In 1937 the cremated remains of approximately 300 people were placed within the tiled crypt in front of the monument. The monument is composed of native keystone, and its striking frieze depicts coconut palm trees bending before the force of hurricane winds while the waters from an angry sea lap at the bottom of their trunks. . ."
