1911 – The Riley Brothers Construction Company began work on the new Weather Station at Sand Key seven miles southwest of Key West.
1925 – Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, accompanied by his wife Eleanor, arrived in Key West for several days of fishing. The couple had been to the island “some time ago” and were very pleased with their experience.
1935 – An application by a Tavernier business to sell beer and wine was denied by the Monroe County Commission after area residents signed and submitted a petition showing strong opposition to the sale of any intoxicants on the Upper Keys.
1956 – The Cuban ferry, the City of Havana, sailed for the first time from the West India Fruit and Steamship Company’s new terminal on Stock Island.
1968 – John Carbonell, theater owner and former mayor of Key West, died.
1993 – A fierce winter storm swept thought the Keys uprooting trees, damaging buildings, boats and power lines. The wind reached gusts of 75 m.p.h. at Key West International Airport. The Dry Tortugas reported winds up to 109 mph. The storm also destroyed the “Fat Albert” blimps at United States Air Force Radar Station on Cudjoe Key.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A house trailer waiting to load on the Cuba Ferry the City of Havana, 1950s. Jeff Brodhead Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.