January 22

Armando Parra, Key West chicken catcher.

1912 – Henry Flagler arrived at Key West on the first train from the mainland, officially opening the Overseas Extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Mr. Flagler was welcomed to Key West by Mayor J.N. Fogarty, distinguished guests, and probably the largest crowd ever gathered in Key West to that time.

1925 – The Key West Woman’s Club presented Laura Huxtable Porter at the White Street High School as a fundraiser for the Public Library. The nationally renowned Porter performed her program “Parallelisms in Poetry and Music,” a mix of piano performances and poetry readings.

1926 – The La Concha Hotel was formally opened to the public. The San Sebastian Troubadours entertained the 175 Key Westers who dined on the hotel’s terrace.

1930 – Chicago radio personalities Mike and Herman, broadcasting an imaginary trip to Cuba, “departed” Miami and were expected to “arrive” in Key West this evening. They had already made mention of the turtle kraals and soup cannery, as well as Fort Taylor.

1954 – Movie star Rita Hayworth and her husband Dick Haymes arrived for an indefinite stay at the Casa Marina Hotel.

1957 – Baseball’s Ted Williams, fishing with guide Jimmie Albright, had a fishing duel in the Florida Keys with Golf’s Sam Snead fishing with guide Cecil Keith. Williams won with two bonefish to Snead’s one.

2004 – The City of Key West hired Armando Parra as official “chicken catcher” to try to control the island’s rapidly growing, free-ranging chicken population. Parra would be paid $20 for each nuisance chicken he caught until Sept. 30, with limits of 900 birds or $18,000.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: Armando Parra, Key West chicken catcher. From the collection of Dr. Bruce Boros. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.