1836 – The U.S. schooner Motto arrived at Key West from Cape Florida and reported that 40 Seminole fighters had attacked and burned the Cape Florida lighthouse.
1864 – Yellow fever was spiking among the population, especially the military. By the time the epidemic ended in September there had been as many as 1,000 case with over 200 deaths.
1894 – Captain Musterd of the brig Caspian died at the Dry Tortugas. The Caspian had earlier run aground there and was assisted off by wreckers.
1933 – The Smith Shoals lighthouse was first lighted.
1933 – George Babcock died at his home at age 64. He was Mayor of Key West from 1905 to 1907. He had also served on the city council and as city treasurer.
1960 – Eckwood Solomon Jr. was awarded the Philippine Military Academy’s “Order of Merit.” He was an exchange student from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
1970 – A beachfront hippie village built in the mangroves of Boca Chica Key was found empty. A note posted on the wall of one building simply said, “Welcome to this house, built in May 1969. I wish access be denied to no one during my absence. It would be nice if you leave it tidier than when you found it – Roger Knoebber, June 1970.” Some people believed police harassment had driven the occupants away, others said mosquitoes were to blame.
1981 – Peter Pell, one of the founders of Key West Hand Print Fabrics, died suddenly at his home in Key West. Pell with his partner James Russell founded Hand Print Fabrics in the early 1960’s, and Pell held the position of art director.
2000 – Monroe County Mayor Shirley Freeman and Commissioners Wilhelmina Harvey and Nora Williams were assigned bodyguards after receiving death threats for having voted for a new sewage treatment plant on Key Largo.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Peggy Murphree and Peter Pell C 1973. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.