Virginia Key
| Virginia Key | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood of Miami | |
Virginia Key Beach
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 Virginia Key in Miami |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Miami-Dade County |
| City | Miami |
| Government | |
| • City of Miami Commissioner | Marc Sarnoff |
| • Miami-Dade Commissioners | Carlos A. Giménez |
| • House of Representatives | Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R) and Luis García, Jr. (R) |
| • State Senate | Gwen Margolis (D) |
| • U.S. House | Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.35 sq mi (3.5 km2) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-05) |
| ZIP Code | 33149 |
| Area code(s) | 305, 786 |
| Virginia Key | |
|---|---|
Virginia Key railroad at the park
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| Type | Municipal |
| Location | Virginia Key, Miami, Florida, United States |
| Area | 863 acres (3.49 km2) |
| Created | 1945 |
| Operated by | City of Miami |
| Website | Virginia Key Beach Park |
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Virginia Key Beach Park
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| Location | Virginia Key, Miami |
| Coordinates | 25°44′11″N 80°9′20″W / 25.73639°N 80.15556°WCoordinates: 25°44′11″N 80°9′20″W / 25.73639°N 80.15556°W |
| Built | 1945 |
| Architectural style | Masonry |
| NRHP Reference # | 02000681 |
| Added to NRHP | June 28, 2002 |
Virginia Key is a 863-acre (3.49 km2) barrier island in Miami, Florida, United States in Biscayne Bay, south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne. It accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami Seaquarium, Miami-Dade's Central District Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Other facilities include the former Miami Marine Stadium, the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and an office of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
What is now Virginia Key was the southern end of a barrier island that extended from the New River inlet in Fort Lauderdale to just north of Key Biscayne. Early accounts by Spanish explorers indicated the existence of one or more inlets somewhere on the long spit of land enclosing the northern end of Biscayne Bay, but such inlets open and close over time. At the beginning of the 19th century, there was no inlet through the barrier island between the New River Inlet and Bear Cut, at the northern end of Key Biscayne. Hurricanes in 1835 and 1838 opened a new inlet, Narrows Cut (now known as Norris Cut), separating Virginia Key from what is now Fisher Island at the south end of Miami Beach.
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