1852 – The steamer Philadelphia arrived at Key West with many passengers sick with cholera. No one was allowed on the island, and instead the vessel was sent to Sand Key where the ill could get exercise and fresh air at the small, remote islet while under quarantine. Two hundred and fifty people were put ashore, and ultimately, 41 died there.
1927 – Equipment to build the Key Largo bridge was being transferred from No Name Key to Card Sound. Work was to start as soon as the equipment was in place, and plans were that the structure would be ready for use by mid-September.
1927 – Sheriff Niles added a Central American wildcat to his menagerie at the courthouse in Key West. He had purchased the young feline from a man in Honduras, and it was expected to grow much larger than an ordinary house cat.
1951 – Construction started on City Electric System’s new 10,000-kilowatt steam plant in Key West. The opening phase of the year-long project was the drilling of seven wells to provide cooling water for condensers in the new plant.
1966 – Marine Lance Corporal Leland (Skipper) Albury died from wounds he received in battle in Vietnam.
1980 – The Long Key Bridge was dedicated by Congressman Dante B. Fascell.
1985 – Key West Mayor Richard Heyman announced the Navy had approved the use of Fleming Key for the city’s sewer treatment plant.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The City Electric Steam Plant on Trumbo Road. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.