1826 – The first Key West lighthouse, located at the southwestern end of the island, was lit for the first time. Keeper Michael Mabrity, assisted by wife Barbara, used whale oil to fuel its 15 lamps.
1861 – Under the cover of night, U.S. Army Captain James M. Brannan, commanding Key West’s Barracks (at today’s Peary Court housing complex), quietly marched his men to Fort Taylor, took charge of the stronghold, and kept it out of secessionist hands. The action ensured that Key West would remain under Union control during the Civil War, which provided the U.S. Navy with a secure base to blockade southern ports.
1890 – The shipment of produce from the Keys was becoming a big business, as some 200 farmers throughout Key Largo and other islands were growing large crops of tomatoes, eggplant, lemons, and pineapples.
1890 – Over 200 cigar workers and labor leaders gathered at the San Carlos Institute to petition Key West cigar manufacturers to hire only Cuban employees, and not Spanish, as a way of supporting Cuban nationalists and an independent Cuba.
1923 – An Aero-Marine Airways plane flying from Key West to Havana crashed off the Cuban Coast. Five people were rescued from the wreck, but four passengers were lost, including pilot Edwin F. Atkins, Jr. and his two young sons.
1994 – Former City Commissioner Harry Powell, in an attempt to stop construction of the Navy housing project at Peary Court, took over a construction trailer with what he claimed was dynamite with a dead man’s switch. After a nine-hour stand-off he was taken into custody and charged with armed burglary and possession of a destructive device.
1997 – Defense Department officials were seeking public input regarding their plan to test launch anti-ballistic missiles from the Cudjoe Key Air Force Station, an idea that was already stirring much local opposition.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An engraved print of Fort Taylor that appeared in Harper’s Weekly of March 2, 1861. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center