1898 - A Naval Court of Inquiry was organized to investigate the sinking of the Battleship Maine, and it would meet in the Key West Custom House. Members were Captain French E. Chadwick, Captain William T. Sampson, Lt. Commander Adolph Marix, and Lt. Commander William P. Potter.
1925 – The visiting Havana YMCA basketball team defeated the Key West Married Men’s team 28-27. One of the largest crowds to ever watch a Key West basketball game was on hand for the event.
1935 – Because of a strike and looming threats of violence at the Matecumbe bridge workers’ camps, 48 Florida National Guardsmen accompanied by four officers and 30 Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies were stationed there to keep an eye on the situation and maintain order.
1951 – The State Hotel Commissioner reported Monroe County had 924 motel and 738 hotel rooms.
1970 – Four Navy men – George Porter, Andrew Ratliff, Larry Nixon Jr. and Joseph Carter – were fishing in a small boat when a cold front passed over the Keys, and they failed to return home. An extensive search by the Coast Guard and Navy failed to find any trace of them.
2005 – Key West was in the midst of a six-month moratorium on hotel-to-condominium conversions, but city planners felt the trend could not be stopped. There were fears that working class visitors would be “priced out” if such conversions continued.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Key West Custom House and Clinton Place, ca. 1898. Collection of Rosalie and Bascom Grooms, Sr. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.