1870 – The Sears School, Key West’s public school, was established on Free School Lane.
1875 – A number of distinguished Cubans, including Mayor Carlos M. De Cespedes, met at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and organized St. John’s Episcopal Church, in which the services would be held in Spanish.
1897 – The USS Maine fired warning shots toward schooners leaving Key West to command them to halt. The vessels were then boarded by officers from the battleship and searched for arms and ammunition that might be used to illegally supply revolutionary forces in Cuba. Nothing was found.
1949 – President Truman departed for Washington after a three-week vacation at the Little White house.
1954 – The City of Key West offered to purchase land at Simonton and Angela streets for $70,000 from Brown Estates, owners of the property. A reasonable counteroffer was expected after a vote from the Brown board of directors.
1996 – Mary Spottswood, Key West’s grande dame and Spottswood family matriarch, died at age 73. Her late husband John had been Monroe County Sheriff, State Senator, and owner of the Casa Marina and La Concha hotels.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: View of Key West taken from the lighthouse, looking west toward Fort Taylor, in 1897. The battleship Maine can be seen to the left of the Fort. From the Library of Congress. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.