1910 – The U.S. Geologic Survey’s technological branch, with encouragement of the bureau of yards and docks, designated Key West as a site for testing the underwater storage of coal, a potential new strategy for tropical locations.
1923 – Mayor B.L. Smith announced that airmail service between Key West and Havana would start in one week, with Aeromarine Airways as carrier. All first-class mail was to be dispatched daily (minus Saturdays) after the arrival of the train.
1926 - Charles L. Ort of Ort Realty in Miami was meeting with Charles H. Ketchum, the company’s local representative, about their development known as “Key Largo City.” Ort claimed he was spending $20 million to create one of the finest developments in the country - an exclusive city with beautiful streets, boulevards, hotels, golf courses, and tennis courts.
1958 – Baseball great Ted Williams filed a declaration of domicile at the clerk of court listing his address as Islamorada.
1970 – Long Key State Park opened.
2000 – A Navy clinic and Veterans Administration clinic both opened in a new building on the old Naval hospital grounds at the eastern edge of Key West. The $20 million building incorporated an archway remaining from the original 1941 hospital and the bell from the former hospital ship USS Repose.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Navy Medical Clinic and V.A. Clinic complex under construction, ca. 2000. U.S. Navy photo. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.