1862 – During the month of August there were 150 cases of yellow fever reported by the Army in Key West. The deaths from fever totaled 50 for the Army, Navy and merchant marine.
1906 – The Key West Inter-Ocean newspaper with W.W. Thompson as editor was published daily except Sunday. The Key West Citizen with E.M. Semple as editor was published weekly. The Key West Advertiser was published every Saturday.
1920 – Four thousand rats had been exterminated at Key West since a rodent survey commenced there on June 26. None were found to carry disease, but health officials encouraged a continuation of the campaign.
1922 – Alfred Brost, deputy sheriff and watchman for the Florida East Coast Railroad facility on Trumbo Island, was kidnapped by four men, taken to County Road in Key West, and beaten. Brost had recently been employed by the FEC following the walkout of strikers.
1930 – The Key West Citizen moved its office and press from Duval Street to its new building at 517 Greene Street.
1972 – The new Bahia Honda bridge was dedicated when Monroe County Mayor Harry Harris cut the ribbon. The first car across was a 1901 Oldsmobile replica driven by Josette Richards, who was on the last leg of a trip from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West.
1994 – More than 17,000 Cuban Refugees crossed the Florida Straits during the month. This was the largest Cuban exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift.
2008 – Monroe County officials were unsupportive of plans to build a 19-story hotel at the Key West airport, saying it did not fit community character and would most likely never be permitted.
2010 – Evergreen Mortuary at 325 Julia Street in Key West was formally closed. The building was being emptied and was for sale.
2013 – The U.S. Navy and Southeast Housing sold the 24-acre Peary Court complex to White Street Partners for an undisclosed sum. The new owners promised that it would not be a gated neighborhood and that 160 of the 208 units would be single-family homes.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The old Bahia Honda Bridge as the new bridge is under construction. Photo used in the Miami Herald on January 15, 1972. The rest area by the old bridge can be seen. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.