1826 – The ship Ellen, sailing from Havana to Philadelphia, went ashore on Carysfort Reef. Wreckers saved the dismasted vessel and anchored it off Tavernier Key. The cargo was taken to Key West and sold for $25,000, half of which was awarded to the salvagers.
1828 – A group of 118 African men rescued from the slave ship Guerrero, wrecked off Key Largo on December 19, were at Key West. As they waited for on the government to decide their fate, the refugees were put to work clearing overgrowth from roads first cut by Commodore Porter five years earlier.
1829 – The schooner Pacific arrived at New York from Key West with a “live bald-headed Eagle” as a present for U.S. President-elect General Andrew Jackson. The bird was consigned to Fish, Grinnell, & Co. of that city.
1890 – George White shipped 1,000 alligator skins from Key West to New York. He had also received a dozen exceptionally soft deer hides cured by the Indians “in and around the Everglades,” and another 4,000 were expected.
1957 – Former President Harry Truman arrived at the Olney Inn at Islamorada. He remained until the 25th with a trip to Key West on the 23rd to speak at a benefit for his Presidential Library.
1967 – Mexican and Honduran ships were landing increasingly large cargos of produce at Key West. Over the previous two months, the totals (in pounds) were, cucumbers 4,728,211; tomatoes, 775,787; eggplant, 115,393; and bell peppers, 19,676.
1975 – The interior of the Old Island Inn on Simonton Street was destroyed by fire. Ernest Hemingway had stayed in the building on his first visit to Key West in 1928.
1994 – The Key West Planning Board approved developers’ proposals for a 178-room, three-story hotel to be built alongside and behind the Key West Custom House.
2007 – Artist and former Key West mayoral candidate Norman “Captain Outrageous” Taylor died unexpectedly. Taylor’s whimsical stylings were painted on myriad objects, but he was best known for his colorful bicycle decorations.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Old Island Inn at 314 Simonton Street, ca. 1960. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.