1857 – Captain Alderslade arrived at Key West from Tampa on the schooner Eliza Catherine with 30 head of cattle for the island’s meat market.
1887 – The new Spanish daily newspaper El Pueblo began publication at Key West.
1889 – Captain J.F. Horr, the new collector of customs, arrived from his native state of Ohio.
1902 – With the recent explosion of the Curry Ice Plant, ice had become a scarce commodity at Key West. Ships from elsewhere brought in what they could, but demand far exceeded supply, and ice was selling for 8 cents a pound.
1935 – A Blackfish (pilot whale) weighing more than 2,500 pounds was towed ashore by bridge workers at Bahia Honda.
1941 – A special board of the Civil Aeronautics Authority approved funds for the airport at Marathon. The allocation of $234,000 was to help clear, grade, and drain the 500 x 3200-foot landing strips, and pave and light the taxiways.
1963 – The new Marathon Post Office was opened.
1988 – Filming began on the James Bond adventure “License Revoked.” The name of the film was changed to “License to Kill” before it was released.
2011 – Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge was purchased for $100 million by a subsidiary of New York-based Northwood Investors. In 2003, the property had sold for $33 million.
2013 – Ben Friberg became the first person to successfully cross from Cuba to Key West on a paddleboard. The 35-year-old Tennessee musician made the 110-mile journey from Havana’s Marina Hemingway to Smathers Beach in 28 hours and 6 minutes.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Marathon looking east to the airport. Photo from Erma Stout’s scrapbook. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.