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Welcome to Key ...

Key is located in Cherokee County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Key, you might consider that their post office opened in 1880.

Key is 630 feet [192 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Key lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Key (for example, toward Cave Spring (GA)), you will soon leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Area Codes for Key: 256 & 938<3>

Communities Also Named Key ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Key - they are located in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Key.

Communities near Key ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Key.

  • Cedartown
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Piedmont
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Centre
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Bluff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Cave Spring
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Leesburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Robealou Acres
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Robealou Acres is located in Floyd County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robealou Acres
    • Estimated population in 2019: 973 people
  • Etna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Etna is located in Polk County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • Estimated population in 2019: 902 people
  • Sand Rock
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
  • Gaylesville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Key. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Key.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Key. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Key.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Key. See our Newspapers Page for Key.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Key ...

Looking for more information about Key? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Key, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Key.

Adding Key to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Key in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Key was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Key post office opened in 1880. The Key post office closed in 1936.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Key.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Cherokee, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Key - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 256 code has been Overlayed with the 938 area code. New phone numbers in the Key area will be assigned with one of these codes: 256 or 938. As a result, placing a call in the Key area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/