1867 – The steamer Narva left Key West to begin laying telegraph cable between there and Cuba. The average rate of paying out cable was four miles an hour.
1923 – A group of 52 Chinese laborers arrived at Key West via San Francisco. They were on their way to Cuba, where they were to work on sugar plantations.
1923 – Sixty-six Russians, Spaniards, and Syrians arrived at Key West on a boat from Tampa. They had attempted to illegally enter the U.S. from Havana and were being returned to Cuba.
1932 – Horace O’Bryant was appointed principal of the Monroe County senior and junior high school. The combining of the two schools was necessary because of the economy. The Harris and Division Street schools were combined under Principal W.C. Duncan. All teachers were notified of substantial salary cuts.
1934 – Well-known travel writer Richard Halliburton was in Key West after having visited the Dry Tortugas, which he was writing an article about. Halliburton was preparing to leave for Cuba for research on the battle of San Juan Hill. The explorations were part of a commission to write 50 2,000-word articles in 50 weeks.
1936 – The National Restaurant Association sent a letter to the Key West Chamber of Commerce requesting information about the city’s recently implemented prohibition on tipping. Key West was the only place in the country with such a law.
1945 – The population of Monroe County was listed as 19,018 in the Florida State Census.
1963 – The first city commission of the newly incorporated City of Stock Island was sworn into office at the Baptist Church on Stock Island.
1995 – Fire destroyed the Copa nightclub in the former Monroe Theater and adjoining building on Duval Street. It was the worst fire in Key West in 72 years.
2007 – Skateboarders under the age of 18 were no longer required to wear protective padding on their arms, wrists, and knees at the Marathon Skate Park. Helmets, though, were required by all.
2011 – The Madeleine Bean Building that housed the Key West City Planner’s office on Simonton Street, and formerly known as the City Hall Annex Building, was torn down.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Copa fire in the 600 block of Duval Street in August 1995. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.