1880 – The American Shoals Lighthouse was first lighted.
1924 – The Florida State Board of Health notified the City of Key West that they were ready to wage war on the island’s mosquitoes. They were particularly eager to work with property owners to screen cisterns.
1935 – The Pulaski Shoals Lighthouse was first lighted.
1953 – The Monroe County Commission approved a 99-year lease with the Key West Lions Club at $1 a year for a choice bay bottom site on North Roosevelt Boulevard.
1954 – Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., Key West Police arrested nine motorists for driving while intoxicated. All the arrestees were Navy personnel.
1961 – Monroe County Commissioner Clarence Higgs, age 59, died suddenly at his home. He had served on the commission since 1944 and was business manager of the local Carpenters’ Union, a position he had held for 22 years.
1970 – The Key West Housing Authority held the ground-breaking ceremony for the 200-unit senior citizen high-rise on Kennedy Drive.
1994 – For the first time in three years, a commercial jet was flown into the Key West airport. The landing of the 100-passenger British Aerospace 146 jet by the Trans America Charter company was intended to sway county officials that such aircraft would be acceptable in terms of both noise and size.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: American Shoals Lighthouse south of Sugarloaf Key, ca. 1910. From the Haffenreffer Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.