1823 – The Brig Brutus from New York and carrying cannons for Commodore David Porter’s squadron, put into Key Vaca for water. A Spanish polacre came in shortly after and appeared to be a pirate vessel. The captain of Brutus mounted the carried guns and pointed them at the Spanish ship, which gave up without resistance.
1923 – Loads of sand were piled on United Street to later be smoothed in preparation for paving and sidewalk installation. Residents there were pleased with the work and thought theirs would soon be the finest street in the city.
1924 – Vincent Astor arrived on his yacht Noumahal and sailed to Cuba later in the day.
1926 – C.W. Barron, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, was visiting the Keys on his yacht and commented, “Key West holds advantages not possessed by any city in the state of Florida. When the new motor Over-Sea Highway is completed and a water supply is secured from the mainland, I cannot see anything further that Key West needs.”
1929 – Famous song writer and composer Irving Berlin arrived on the yacht Windswept from Long Key. After a short stay in the city, he returned to Long Key.
1936 – E. A. Pynchon, administrator of the Works Progress Administration for Florida, visited Key West to confer with local officials and to assess the sewerage work being done by WPA crews.
1946 – Key West residents donated 8,000 articles of clothing and 2,000 shoes for the relief of people living in war-torn areas of Europe and the Pacific.
1970 – Two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Kretchmer and the USS Foster, arrived from Pearl Harbor to join Key West’s Destroyer Division 601.
1983 – The USS Hercules (PHM-2) and the USS Gemini (PHM-6) arrived at Trumbo Point after a 5,000-mile voyage from Bremerton, Washington. The ships were assigned to Patrol Combatant Missile Hydrofoil Squadron No.2, stationed in Key West.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: USS Gemini PHM-6 in Key West, 1980s. Photo by Dale M. McDonald. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.