Today in Keys History – January 20
1912 – “Opening the Over Sea Railway to Key West” was the cover story of Collier’s National Weekly Magazine.
1912 – Mulhall’s Wild West Show gave a performance at Trumbo. Colonel Mulhall’s show had appeared in all the major cities of the country and the tent was one of the largest ever used in Key West.
1925 – A group of Key Westers went to view the commencement of construction of the new highway bridge that would connect Stock Island and Boca Chica. Piles of marl that would form the approaches to the bridge and many other construction materials were already on site.
1935 – Official notice was received in Key West of the transfer of Fort Jefferson to the National Park Service from the Navy Department.
1958 – A groundbreaking was held for the Robert Gabriel housing project in Key West.
2000 – Monroe County Mayor Shirley Freeman cast the deciding vote to block a proposed a voter referendum on an expansion of ways in which the Tourist Development Council’s hotel tax could be spent.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Cover of Collier’s magazine, Vol XLVIII, No 18. January 20, 1912. Gift of Mrs. Page Brown. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.