1844 – The damaged cargo of cotton and tallow from the British brig Conservative, wrecked on Long Key, was sold at Key West for $4,000. The bilged hull was sold as it lay for $76.
1854 – The brig Abbottsford arrived at Key West with 200 tons of guano collected from islands off the coast of Guyana.
1884 – Charcoal sold for $1 a barrel in Key West; eggs were 15 cents a dozen, chickens 85 cents each, and turkeys $2 a head.
1886 – The population of Key West was estimated at around 18,000. There were 132 cigar factories on the island, and combined with the sponge industry, they had a weekly payroll of $50,000.
1908 – Dock workers at Knight’s Key unloaded cement from the steamer Dorothy, launching work on the railroad extension south of there. Henry Flagler himself witnessed the landing of the first barrel, and he said work trains would be able to reach Key West within a year’s time.
1969 – State health officials issued an order banning any new septic tanks at Key Haven, after residents complained that systems were failing, and raw sewage was draining directly into the water.
1983 – The Monroe County Commission approved the preliminary construction plans for Garden Cove, the second part of the Port Bougainville development on North Key Largo.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Florida East Coast Railway, Key West Extension. Placing the first girder on the Seven Mile Bridge. Postcard by W.H. Harrison. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center