1836 – Accounts from Indian Key reached Tallahassee that residents on the island were fearful of an attack by the Seminoles. Two Native American “spies” thought to have been part of a larger mainland group had recently been apprehended near the key.
1865 – To celebrate of the recent fall of the Confederate capital of Richmond, the ships of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West were decorated with flags; at noon a cannon salute was fired, and at night the town was illuminated.
1923 – A group called the “Water Lilies” submitted that the name of Key West’s Gato Park be changed to Bayview Park. The suggested change was in response to a contest in which the winner would be given a $5 gold piece.
1941 – Karl Tanzler (a.k.a. Count Von Cosel), the man who had kept the remains of Elena Hoyos Mesa for seven years until discovered in October of 1940, left Key West for Zephyrhills. Hours after he left town, the tomb he had built for Elena in the Key West Cemetery was destroyed by an explosion.
1951 – Nine Boy Scouts of Key West Troop No. 54 completed a five-day survival training exercise on Sugarloaf Key. They carried in tents and water but otherwise subsisted on prickly pears, hearts of century plants, cabbage palmettos, tamarind, papaya, guava, coconuts, snails, crabs, crawfish, and raccoons and birds.
1980 – President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would accept up to 3,500 Cubans who were seeking asylum in the Peruvian Embassy in Havana.
1984 – Two people were killed when a single engine plane crashed into a Seminary Street house shortly after taking off from Key West International Airport. The house suffered some damage from fire but no one inside was injured.
1989 – Willie Ward retired after working for the Key West Citizen for 42 years.
1995 – Former Monroe County Fine Arts Council leader Parvan Bakardjiev was indicted by a state grand jury for theft.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The tomb of Elena M. Hoyos in 1940. Photo by Stetson Kennedy. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.