1848 – The new Key West Lighthouse on Whitehead Street was lighted for the first time. The lighthouse was built to replace the one destroyed by the Hurricane of 1846.
1894 – Napoleon Pinder, a native of Nassau, was the largest man in Key West. At 21 years of age he was 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 228 pounds.
1903 – A masquerade ball with 300 masked attendees was held at La Brisa in Key West for the benefit of the Cuba Club.
1947 – President Harry Truman signed the authorization permitting Aerovias Q, the Cuban airline, to operate daily flights between Key West and Havana.
1954 – Mangel’s ladies apparel store opened at 618 Duval St., and Aronovitz’ menswear store opened next door at 620 Duval.
1961 – The Navy announced that it had named one of its new streets in the Sigsbee Park Housing for Stephen R. Mallory. Mallory, who was from Key West, served as U.S. Senator from Florida in the 1850’s and during the Civil War was Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States.
1969 – Florida Keys diving pioneer Art McKee spoke before an audience of 400 at a meeting of the Collier County Historical Association. McKee, who had the Sunken Treasure Museum on Plantation Key, spoke about his underwater work on the Spanish fleet shipwrecks of 1733.
1971 – According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in January 7.1 million pounds fresh produce was shipped through the port of Key West. Most of this was cucumbers shipped from Central America.
1976 – The Navy water pipeline system was transferred to the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority by Marjorie Lynch, United States Undersecretary of Health Education and Welfare.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: 622 Duval St. (Pioneer Fabrics), 620 Duval St. (Richman’s), 618 Duval St. (Mangel’s). Photo taken by the Property Appraiser’s Office circa 1965. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.