1891 – An arsonist attempted to burn the Olivia Street property of Robert K. Fulford by igniting kerosene-soaked rags and wood shavings under an outbuilding and next to a can of oil.
1928 – The Key West Fire Department presented the Kid Snow minstrel show at the Garden Theater. Admission to the two-hour revue of songs, jokes, and dance was 35 cents.
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 an address to dedicate the new First Baptist Church at 524 Eaton Street. The old church was destroyed by fire in 1956.
1969 – Key West police raided a room at a local hotel where a group of hippies was staying and found a cache of hand-rolled cigarettes, but when a marijuana test was run on the suspected joints, it turned out they contained only actual grass.
1983 – Florida Governor Bob Graham ordered that hearings begin in January to determine if the state should create additional aquatic preserves in the Florida Keys. Local officials were worried new preserves would inhibit development and lower property values.
1986 – The new Metro Key West solid waste furnace on Stock Island was open and running. It burned garbage and rendered it into ash and steam, the latter of which was used to generate electricity.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: First Baptist Church at 524 Eaton Street C 1970s. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center