Today in Keys History – March 30, 2023
1866 – Ex-Confederate Army Major Lansford Hastings, leading a group of 34 southerners fleeing northern reconstruction, stopped at Key West on the way to Brazil. During their 8-day stay in Key West, many in the group contracted smallpox. The captain of their ship, seeing little chance of a successful voyage, insisted the group abandon their plans and sail to Mobile, which they reluctantly did.
1877 – Winner Bethel died in Key West. He was a native of the Bahamas and came to Key West in 1847. He was Mayor of Key West from 1872 to 1873. He was also Judge of Probate Court.
1886 – At 10 o’clock in the morning, a fire started near the San Carlos Theater in Key West. Over the next 12 hours, it consumed over 50 acres of the island city’s commercial district. Seven people were killed and 15 injured. Damages were estimated at $2 million.
1900 – The Knights of the Antilles, a new fraternal and beneficiary order, was being organized with headquarters and home office in Key West. The order planned to extend into the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean, and The Bahamas.
1950 – Mayor and Mrs. William O’Dwyer of New York City arrived for their annual visit to the Key Largo Angler’s Club.
1979 – The U.S. Army announced that the First Battalion of the 65th Air Defense Artillery would leave Key West during the next fiscal year. The unit had 740 military and 10 civilian personnel in Key West. The Air Defense Artillery came to Key West during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962.
1984 – No. 1 Boat Manufacturing Company on Stock Island completed work on a 75-foot passenger and cargo vessel that was custom built for use in the Bahamas. It was the largest fiberglass boat built in Key West.
1986 – Writer John Ciardi, who had been a winter resident of Key West since 1975, died at his home in New Jersey.
1989 – Former U.S. poet laureate and part-time Key West resident Richard Wilbur was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Street scene after the fire 1886. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.