Key West Police Officer Clarence Till’s widow and children at his gravesite in Key West Cemetery
1823 – Monroe County, the sixth county in Florida, was established by an act of the territorial legislature and signed by Governor William P. Duval. The new county encompassed all of South Florida below a line running from Charlotte Harbor to Lake Okeechobee to Hillsboro Inlet.
1904 – Mrs. Clarence K. Till, widow of Officer Till, was presented with a deed to a house and lot bought by the citizens of Key West. Key West Police Officer Till was killed in the line of duty.
1941 – The Rural Electrification Administration announced it was presenting a loan of $50,000 to the Florida Keys Electric Cooperative Association of Marathon to construct power lines that would connect 525 members of the cooperative.
1945 – W.A. Parrish, chairman of the Monroe County Commission, noted that just about every man in Marathon belonged to the 67-member Marathon Chamber of Commerce. Aside from promoting the island’s businesses, the organization’s goal was the improvement of the community center.
1946 – Ignacio Carbonell, owner of two Key West theaters, asked the Key West City Commission to lift the ban on children under 16 attending movies due to the potential spread of polio. The request was denied.
1954 – Harold Laubbdchen, manager of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, announced for the first time Key West had an advertisement on a nationwide radio program. The spot was in a show “Florida Calling” on the Mutual network. The spot was on five days a week for two months and cost $1,000.
1976 – The Key West Comparsa performed in the “Florida on Parade” Bicentennial festivities in St. Augustine.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Key West Police Officer Clarence Till’s widow and children at his grave in the Key West Cemetery. Gift Till Family. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.