1832 – The Jackson Hotel at Key West was destroyed by fire, an uninsured loss of $7,000. Residents feared the Custom House, and even the entire town, might be threatened, but calm winds kept the flames from spreading. This was the small community’s first large fire.
1858 – Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military, arrived at Key West on the steamer Isabel “on a visit to our genial clime and for the improvement of his health.”
1863 – A New York ship arrived at Key West with turkeys, potatoes, turnips, and onions. The turkeys sold for between five and six dollars each.
1887 – The Key West cigar factory of Lozando Pendas & Co. went out of business.
1900 – An experiment was made by Southern Bell Telephone Company last Sunday to connect the telephone wires with the Gulf cable between here and Havana. Present were Miss Bessie Ingraham, T.L. Ingraham and J.W. Atkins, the latter adjusting the wires, called Havana. For a long there was no sound, except the roar that is heard at night sometimes caused by electric light current. Mr. Atkins kept on talking and finally came back the words clear and distinct, “I don’t understand you.” This was enough to demonstrate the fact that a proper telephone cable communication can be laid with foreign countries.
1912 – President William H. Taft arrived on the train and after touring the city and attending a luncheon in his honor, sailed on a Navy ship to Panama to inspect the construction of the Panama Canal, then in progress.
1918 – Men from Miami Naval Air Station flew to Key West to take on their rivals at Key West NAS in basketball, baseball, tennis, and swimming. It was the first time a large group of military men had been transported by air for an athletic event, which was noted at the time as “a new stage in aircraft accomplishment, as well as in sport annals.”
1922 – The remaining assets of the defunct Island City National bank were auctioned for $570.
1924 – The Overseas Highway Association held a mass meeting at the Strand Theater in Key West to hear public opinions regarding a proposed road to the mainland.
1932 – The distribution of clothes for the needy by the Key West Woman’s Club and the Red Cross was so overrun by recipients that police had to be called in to maintain order.
1993 – Alfred Rahming became Key West Fire Department’s first Black fire captain. Rahming had started with the department in 1974.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Invitation to reception of President Taft at the home of Key West Mayor J. N. Fogarty, December 1912. Sent to Alice (Baldwin) De Leon. She was unable to attend due to recent childbirth (Helen). The De Leon Collection donated by Kirk and Gloria McDonald. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center