Gato Village Pocket Park

Gato Pocket Park

You want to find a quiet place all to yourself and have a SubWay Picnic… well here it tis! This is called a pocket park and Key West has several of these type placed around the island town.

This neighborhood pocket park is no bigger than a small vacant house lot measuring  a modest 20 x 40 or so. It consists of a 4′ wide gate, 1 bench, sign denoting the Gato legacy, cigar statue and a facade of a building resembling the one from Mr. Gato’s past. The featured half-smoked Cuban cigar stands an astonishing 12-foot tall and comes complete with a period-perfect gold band and smoke coming from the top. This is a great place, we picked up some subs and cycled only 2 blocks or so relaxing in private for 30 minutes in the cool shade without even seeing a single soul.

This FREE pocket park is located on Louisa Street in what was known as Gato Village in 1884, after the arrival of Cuban immigrant Eduardo Gato, who opened a cigar factory, but also created a community of housing and assistance for his nearby employees. It’s reported the city ran out of money on this project and ended up with this front shell of a building. This one foot thick wall and porch alone cost a whopping $7,000 to build… I would’ve done it for $6,988 !!!!!!! No wonder they ran out of money!