1850 – The Spanish brig Moreno, sailing from Trinidad de Cuba to Barcelona with a cargo of sugar, aguardiente, and cigars, ran ashore at Woman Key. High seas kept wreckers from doing any salvage work, but it was expected most of the cargo would ultimately be saved.
1858 – The U.S. Brig Dolphin intercepted and seized the slave ship Echo with 318 Africans on board near Cayo Verde, Cuba. The captured slaver was sent to Charleston under Navy command, and the Dolphin sailed to Key West with the American and Spanish slaving crew held in irons.
1867 – The first official telegraphic messages were sent between Key West and Cuba. Key West Mayor E. O. Gwynn wrote to Cuban Captain-General Manzano: “As our facilities of intercourse improve, so may our mutual interests and prosperity increase.” Manzano replied: “I celebrate this happy event, which, giving us more rapid communication, will powerfully contribute toward the development of our mutual interests and prosperity.”
1887 – An outbreak of yellow fever at Key West was particularly malevolent. There was one death and one new case on this date bringing the total to this point to 245 cases and 53 deaths.
1953 – Key West rolled out the red carpet to welcome home Sergeant First Class Julio La Torre upon on his return home after he had been held for 2½ years as a prisoner of war in North Korea.
1994 – Property managers of short-term vacation rentals in the Florida Keys formed an association with the goal of protecting property rights and establishing guidelines for the growing business. The new group, called Monroe County Vacation Rental Managers, Inc., elected Gene Moody as president.
2004 – Monroe County commissioners hired Tom Willi, city manager of Davie, Florida, to replace outgoing County Administrator Jim Roberts.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Cuban Telegraph Cable landing near Key West’s Fort Taylor in 1867. Sketched by Dr. J.B. Holder, published in Harper’s Weekly of September 7, 1867. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.