1858 – During the night, 12 enslaved Key Westers escaped from the island by stealing the Sand Key lighthouse boat. It was thought they fled to the Bahamas to find freedom.
1881 – The Key West cigar manufactory Seidenberg & Co. was bankrupt, with assets of $663,666.49 and debts of $988,707.08.
1897 – The Monroe County Schools received state aid of 60 cents per student based on an average attendance of 1,473 students.
1906 – Captain P.L. Cosgrove retired after 30 years with the Lighthouse Service, most of the time as captain of the lighthouse tender Laurel. His son P.L. Cosgrove Jr. succeeded him in command of the Laurel.
1912 – Political leader Wilhelmina Goehring (later Harvey) was born at 1400 Petronia St.. She served on the Monroe County School Board and the Monroe County Commission. She was the first woman to serve as Monroe County Mayor.
1927 – National news reports stated that Key Wester Michael Culmer – “the oldest White man in the US” – died at the age of 122. (Census records indicate Culmer was born in 1830, making him a mere 97 when he died.)
1940 – Poet Robert Frost was staying at the Hotel Casa Marina recuperating from a serious operation. He stayed three weeks.
1947 – Polish musician David Rubinoff played his $100,000 Stradivarius violin in two full-capacity performances at the Key West High School auditorium.
1954 – Mrs. B. Curry, Monroe County school nurse, screened the films “Shy” and “Human Growth” to parents at Truman Elementary School for their approval.
1955 – Hundreds of persons in Key West and from central Florida to Cuba saw a large meteor flash across the sky at 7:30 p.m. The first impression of a number of people was it was an A-bomb explosion.
2003 – Three Cuban Border Guards escaped to the US on their 30-foot patrol boat and landed at Key West. After their early morning arrival at the island, the men walked down Duval Street, searching for someone to surrender to.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Seidenberg Cigar Factory on Greene street near the corner of Simonton Street before the fire of 1886 from a stereo view. From the Louise White Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.