William Weech American Legion Post #168 at 803 Emma St. in Key West
1837 – Captain John Whalton of the lightship Florida, stationed at Carysfort Reef, was killed by Seminole warriors when he went ashore at Key Largo. Whalton’s body was retrieved and buried at Indian Key.
1894 – Walter C., Maloney Jr. died at the age of 55. A Florida native, he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He served as Mayor of Key West from 1889 to 1891. He was also tax collector/assessor for Key West and Monroe County Attorney.
1896 – Many boxes, thought to be supplies for Cuban rebels, were put aboard the steamship City of Key West. It was supposed the City of Key West was going to rendezvous with the steamer Three Friends outside the eight-mile limit of U.S. waters and transfer the cargo for shipment to Cuba.
1926 – Jack Lamber, construction superintendent of the Over-Sea Highway reported that the project was moving rapidly through Cudjoe Key and that “People will be driving from Key West to Big Pine Key by Christmas Day.”
1934 – Arthur Gomez was re-elected state senator over William Albury. Also re-elected was Bernie C. Papy as state representative and Nathan C. Niles as a county commissioner.
1946 – The William Weech Post No. 168 of the American Legion, under commander Earl McGee, received its charter.
1948 – Harold Martin, governor of the Florida Kiwanis District, presented the charter to James M. Calloway, president of the new Key West Kiwanis Club.
1952 – Divers Art McKee and Ernie Ryckman, working from Captain Tony Tarracino’s boat Greyhound, recovered an 80-pound ingot from a shipwreck in 80 feet of water south of Key West. The type of metal was unknown, but McKee said, “If the bar turns out to be gold, you won’t hear any more about it.”
1960 – With 15 fatalities so far for the year, automobile casualties were at a record pace in the Florida Keys. One-third of the deaths had occurred on the “Massacre Mile,” the curving, old Boca Chica road that went around the Naval Air Station.
1977 – Florida’s Attorney General Robert Shevin and members of the Florida Keys Community College board broke the ground for the $3 million Fine Art Center.
1980 – Art McKee died at age 69. He was one of the first men to gain fame for finding sunken Spanish treasure in the water of the Florida Keys. He founded the Museum of Sunken Treasure on Plantation Key.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: American Legion Post #168, VFW Post #6021, 803 Emma St., Key West. Photo by Monroe County Property Appraiser’s Office, circa 1965. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.