Homosassa, Florida
Homosassa, Florida, is home to what visitors and locals alike affectionately call “Monkey Island.” And indeed, this small artificial island does have spider monkeys living on it, even though they weren’t always there. According to Atlas Obscura, this space was converted to an island by a developer named G.A. Furgason after a rock outcropping in the area kept damaging boats.
Furgason also built the Homosassa Wildlife State Park, which received some monkeys after they were no longer needed for polio vaccine research. However, these monkeys kept escaping the wildlife reserve and menacing tourists, so Furgason had them brought to Monkey Island. He had intended this site to be their Alcatraz, but like the famous prison, it’s now an attraction in and of itself.