Today in Keys History – December 18
1910 – The Key West Bar Association met to gather support for the formation of a new judicial circuit that would take in Dade, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, and Monroe counties. Local attorneys felt that the interests of Key West were tied with the east coast, and they wanted the change.
1956 – Singer and actor Burl Ives was spending the holidays in the Keys on a chartered sailing vessel.
1961 – Actress Tallulah Bankhead arrived in Key West for the Christmas holidays. She was visiting her friend, author and playwright James Leo Herlihy.
1974 – Keys shrimpers were experiencing a significant economic downturn as shrimp prices had dropped 39 percent over the previous year, while the cost of fuel was up 50 percent.
1975 – Key West Policeman Norman Drew was killed in a traffic accident while answering a call on lower Duval Street.
1990 – The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the population of Monroe County was 78,024, with 29,073 in Key West. This was a considerable shift from the 1960 Census that reported 47,921 people in Monroe County, of whom 33,956 lived in Key West.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Postcard of the Monroe County Court House in Key West, ca. 1910. Published by A. C. Bosselman and Co., Germany. The DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.