1899 – The Key West Electric Street Railway company opened with a streetcar that ran up and down Duval and to La Brisa. Everything worked smoothly, and nearly five hundred passengers traveled the line before operations stopped for the night.
1913 – Soon-to-be U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan was in Key West after having delivered a speech at the Isle of Pines. American residents of the Isle of Pines hoped Bryan would help spur a movement for the island to break away from Cuba.
1924 – More than 100 tourists had to spend the night at the Key West railway station because hotels and boarding houses were sold out.
1947 – Playwright Tennessee Williams ended a winter vacation at Key West. The night before, he attended a cocktail party at the southernmost mansion hosted by actress Miriam Hopkins. The party then moved to the home of Pauline Hemingway, where Williams read a play for Hopkins, who was searching for new roles.
1968 – The Key West City Commissioners voted unanimously to donate 15 acres of land on Stock Island for the Lower Keys Hospital.
1998 – When the qualifying ended, 14 candidates had signed up for one of the five council seats for the newest municipality in the Keys: Islamorada, A Village of Islands.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An electric streetcar in front of La Brisa at the end of Simonton Street, ca. 1900. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.