1882 – Nelson English was named Postmaster of Key West, the first African American to hold that position.
1897 – George W. Allen was appointed Collector of Customs, the first native Key Wester to hold that office.
1913 – Burglars entered the yard of J.W. Atkins at the end of Olivia Street on North Beach with the intention of robbing the chicken house. They caused a racket that alerted the cook, who intervened and chased the would-be thieves up the beach.
1924 – Workers in Key West’s Cortez and Thompson Cigar factories were back on the job after having a week off during which the annual inventory was taken.
1934 – The Strand Theater on Duval Street was destroyed by fire. The fire was caused by an explosion in the film operating room that killed Jack Perez the 12-year-old son of Manuel Perez who was working on the projectors.
1954 – Residents of a Solares Hill neighborhood were plagued by trespassing sightseers after a news article stated a “cave” behind an Angela Street home was once a pirate lair. In reality, the 24-foot-deep pit was the basement and well of the defunct D.T. Sweeney soda bottling plant, built in 1880.
1958 – Congress approved the Navy’s request to transfer the old Navy Commissary building on United Street to the Monroe County School Board. The building was originally constructed for the Ruth Hargrove Institute in 1911 and taken over by the Navy for use as a Navy Hospital during World War I. It became the Navy Commissary during World War II.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Looking southward over the 600 block of Angela Street from the cupola of the D.T. Sweeney Bottling plant, ca. 1890. Louise White Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.