Dr. Joseph Y. Porter House, Historic residence in Key West, Florida.

Dr. Joseph Y. Porter House is a historic single-family home at 429 Caroline Street in Key West, Florida. The original construction dates to 1838, when it was built by Judge James Webb, the first Federal Judge of the Southern District of the Florida Territory. Porter's father bought the property in 1845, and the house is best known as Porter's lifelong home.

The house was built in 1838 and initially served as the residence of a Federal Judge for Southern Florida. It later became the home of a doctor who played a key role in establishing public health practices in the early development of the state.

The house is named for Dr. Joseph Yates Porter Jr., Key West's first native-born physician and Florida's first Public Health Officer from 1889 to 1917. He lived here for 80 years, and his work on yellow fever, sanitation and quarantine shaped state health legislation. Porter was among the first physicians to recognize that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes.

The house stands at 429 Caroline Street in Key West's Old Town, a short walk from Duval Street and the waterfront. It is a private residence, so visitors see the exterior and the surrounding street rather than the interior. The address is best reached on foot or by bicycle, since Old Town streets are narrow and parking is scarce.

Joseph Yates Porter Jr. was born in this house and died in the same room 80 years later. He was Key West's first native-born physician and served as Florida's first Public Health Officer from 1889 to 1917, working to control yellow fever and reform quarantine practices.