1823 – Commodore David Porter ordered the U.S. flag raised over “Thompson’s Island” (Key West), and a battery was erected with eight...

1911 – The steamer Luckenbach was aground eight miles from Key West and in a dangerous situation. The lives of the 28 men onboard were...

1924 – Wm. M. Butler, political manager for U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, bought 476 acres on Key Largo. The land included a 100-acre...

1854 – The bark California , sailing from New Orleans to New York, ran onto Conch Reef with a cargo of molasses. Wreckers removed 250...

1926 – Samuel J. Wilde of Boston purchased Crawl Key near Marathon from Mary Porter Harris, wife of the late Judge W. Hunt Harris of Key...

1822 – Congress denied a land grant to the East Florida Coffee Land Association. The group was asking for a 23,000-acre tract that...

1866 – Cholera was spreading at Key West, and at least 17 military personnel were down with the disease. 1917 – Dutch tobacco merchant...

1890 – Workmen installed seats in the new First Baptist Church on Eaton Street. The original church was destroyed by the Great Fire of...

1891 – William Tuttar of Key Largo was bitten by a “monster rattlesnake, with 17 rattles and a button.” He killed the reptile, and “by...

1887 – The population of Key West was reported to be 17,000. 1900 – The Florida sponge fishery reached a peak when 189,661 kg of sponges...

1901 – The schooners Lilly White and Dr. Lykes were seized at Key West by the revenue cutter McClane. The vessels, bound from Havana,...

1830 – William R. Hackley recorded in his diary: Rose before the sun and read a portion of the “Acts.” A smack that arrived this morning...