Today in Keys History – January 17
1832 – In the previous year 290 ships entered the port of Key West – 172 from foreign ports and 118 from American ports.
1911 – A.Y. Forest of the United Wireless Company announced a wireless radio station was successfully installed at Knight’s Key, and it could send messages over a radius of 125 miles.
1926 – Construction of the “Key West Boulevard” (today’s North and South Roosevelt boulevards) began.
1953 – The Navy dedicated the baseball field at Naval Station Key West as Walker Field in honor of Key Wester and Marine Sgt. Norris A. Walker, who was killed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945.
1961 – The United States banned all tourist travel to Cuba. The loss of the air and ship traffic to Cuba had an adverse impact on the Key West economy.
2009 – Monroe County filed a federal lawsuit against multiple third-party hotel-booking web sites such as Orbitz, Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity, claiming the online companies did not pay their fair share of the county’s 3-percent tourist development tax.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The ball field on the Naval Station being dedicated on January 17, 1953 to the memory of Sgt. Norris A. Walker USMC, killed in action at Iwo Jima on February 18, 1945. Here, Walker’s mother receives a plaque honoring her son. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.