1830 – William R. Hackley recorded in his diary: Weather thick with a drizzling rain. Wind about west southwest. At about 12 the wind hauled to the southeast and it cleared up. Drew up and executed a power of attorney to Henry A. Barclay of Mobile for the space of one year to sell Florida lands. Read May’s Maxims. Wind southeast, weather pleasant.
1835 – Major Francis L. Dade, Commander of the Key West Army Barracks, sailed to Tampa with his command.
1841 – Alexander Patterson was elected Mayor of Key West.
1899 – The cigar factories continued to work with a full force. The following are the figures for the week ending Dec. 6: E.H. Gato manufactured 225,000 and shipped 100,000; Cortez Cigar Company shipped 87,000; George W. Nichols manufactured 44,000 and shipped 76,000; Pohalski and Company manufactured 150,000 and shipped 140,000; Key West Cigar Manufacturing Company made 110,000 and shipped 150,000; D.L. Trujillo and Sons shipped 200,000; C.L. Knowles made 15,000 and shipped 5,000; Baker and Dubois made 38,200 and shipped 24,500; S. Falk and Sons made 150,000 and shipped 75,000; Martinez Hedesa and Company made 41,000 and shipped 41,100; Thompson Brothers made 5,000 and shipped 6,000; Sar Alvarez Cigar Company made 40,000 and shipped 35,000; S. & F. Fieitas made 39,000 and shipped 26,000 and Theodore Perez and Company made 75,000 and shipped 75,000.
1930 – The German cable ship Neptune started laying a new telephone cable to Cuba. The Key West end of the cable landed at the foot of Waddell Street. The cable was jointly owned by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Cuban Telephone Company. This was the fourth cable between Key West and Havana. The ship took two days to complete the cable to Havana.
1940 – The U.S. Naval Air Station Key West was formally established at Trumbo Point.
1968 – Dr. Harold Bennett, executive secretary of the Florida Baptist Convention, delivered the main address for the new First Baptist Church at 524 Eaton Street. The old church was destroyed by fire in 1956.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library.
Image: The Main Gate to the Trumbo Annex of the Naval Air Station circa 940s. Scott DeWolfe Collection. Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/26996457474