1824 – The brig America, sailing from Baltimore to Key West with a cargo of flour, wrecked at Carysfort Reef. Wreckers removed much of the cargo and refloated the damaged vessel. It was towed to Key West and surrendered to insurance underwriters, who planned to sell it in a few days.
1870 – The first Douglass School for African American children was located on Thomas Street behind the Monroe County Courthouse.
1862 – Many blockade runners captured while trying to supply the Confederacy were in Key West Harbor: the schooners Isabel, Dart, Ariel, Lily, Frier, Hermose, Adventure, Two Sisters, Elias Reed, and Agnes; the sloops Ellen and Brockenborough; and the steamers Swan and Adelia.
1887 – Capt. John Roberts and Peter T. Knight left Key West for Spanish Honduras on the schooner yacht Maria. The men were in search of a buried treasure trove and carried digging and blasting equipment with them.
1890 – Christmas turkeys shipped from Galveston, Texas. were auctioned at Key West. Over 1,400 birds were sold at prices ranging between $1.75 to $3.
1891 – José Martí arrived from Tampa for his first visit to Key West.
1921 – Cinema star Mae Murray and her husband, the director Robert Leonard, visited Key West. They were greeted by Mrs. Juan Carbonell, wife of the manager of the Monroe Theater. Afterward, they took the flying passenger boat Santa Maria to Havana.
1927 – For the first time ever, a car was driven to Key West under its own power when Claude Nolan arrived at the Florida East Coast terminal in his La Salle automobile at 3:15 in the afternoon. Nolan and driving partner Kenneth Goodson had steered the vehicle over the ties and trestles of the Overseas Railway. The men wore life preservers and bathing suits and carried six spare tires and two extra wheels for the feat.
1976 – The last cases were tried in the Key West Municipal Court. Judge Hugh Papy presided over the final cases which, after the first of the year, were assigned to the county court.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A stereoview of the Douglass School, Key West’s first Public School for children of color. It was located behind the Monroe County Courthouse at the corner of Fleming and Thomas Streets C 1880. From the Art Adams Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center