Today in Keys History – January 14
1875 – Construction began on Key West’s Convent of Mary Immaculate at Key West. The building, designed by architect William Kerr, would become one of the island’s most cherished structures.
1909 – Key West’s commercial climate was strong, and there had been no business failures on the island over the previous year.
1929 – New York Yankees star Lou Gehrig and Gene Byrnes, cartoonist for the New York Herald Tribune, visited St. Joseph’s school for boys in Key West.
1941 – Captain Edward “Bra” Saunders, 75, died at his Key West residence. Saunders was the fishing guide for Ernest Hemingway and “gang.” Hemingway used him as his model for the character Captain Willie Adams in the novel “To Have And Have Not.”
1964 – The Monroe County Board of Public Instruction named Key West’s new junior high school for Horace O’Bryant, superintendent of public instruction, in recognition of his 35 years of service to the school system.
2000 – Key West’s Smathers Beach was put under a 30-day health advisory after elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria were found in the water there. The beach had been declared clean only a few weeks earlier.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Convent of Mary Immaculate under construction in Key West, ca. 1875. From a stereoview image. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.