1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted the Florida Keys.
1925 – A team from the Key West Board of Public Works was pouring oil on many of the city’s thoroughfares and then placing a layer of sand over the oil to give the streets a smooth finish.
1955 – After just two months of operation, the P & O Steamship Company halted its Key West-to-Tampa passenger service, citing a lack of business. Its ship, the SS Cuba, was taken to Tampa and docked until the company could find another use for it.
1985 – The Key West City Commission, after touring the proposed sites, chose Fleming Key as the most desirable for the planned sewer treatment plant.
1999 – The U.S. Coast Guard launched a new buoy tender named in honor of Barbara Mabrity, one of Key West’s most famous lighthouse keepers. She took over as keeper of the Key West Lighthouse in 1832 after her husband died. She survived the Hurricane of 1846 and remained at the station until 1864, retiring at age 82.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The SS Cuba leaving Mallory Docks followed by the Bar Pilot boat on January 26, 1955. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.