1896 – The schooner Competitor of Key West was seized by the Spanish gunboat Mensagera near Havana, loaded with Mauser and Remington rifles, 38,000 cartridges, and packages of dynamite, all believed to be intended for anti-Spanish Cuban insurgents.
1924 – Train operations at Key West switched to the summer schedule: A morning train would leave at 10:30 a.m. instead of 9:50, and an evening train would arrive at 5:50 p.m. instead of 9.
1926 – Two miles of the new Key West Boulevard were completed. The 120-foot-wide boulevard started on the south shore at the end of Bertha Street and was to follow the water’s edge around the eastern and northern parts of the island, ending at Bayview Park. One hundred men were employed on the project.
1939 – Movie star Gloria Swanson and a group of friends arrived on the yacht Vidou. They were guests of Mrs. Wallace Kirk, who took them on a tour of the city. Miss Swanson lived in Key West as a little girl when her father was stationed at the Army Barracks.
1968 – The new bridge between Big Pine and No Name keys was opened to traffic.
1974 – The Key West City Commission instructed the city attorney to prepare an ordinance establishing a minimum first-floor elevation for new construction that would allow the city to qualify for federal flood insurance. Key West had been suspended from the program in 1972 for failure to comply.
2019 – Versus the previous year, the number of passengers flying in and out of Key West Airport increased by 19% in January, 15% in February, and 17% in March. In March 2018, 94,000 people flew in and out, compared to 110,000 in March 2019.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Key West Boulevard running along the island’s southern shore, ca. 1927. Photo by Aero-Graphic corporation. Bill Westray Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.