Today in Keys History – June 29, 2023
- Keys History Center
- Jun 28, 2023
- 2 min read
Peacon grocery store on Fleming Street, Key West
1767 – The brig Apollo, sailing from Honduras, was wrecked at Key Largo, the vessel and cargo lost. Captain James Bourk and his crew were later rescued by a ship from Nassau and taken to the Bahamas.
1875 – Key West health officer J. Vining Harris issued a dispatch reporting a death from yellow fever. “I am sorry to have to inform you of the prevalence of this disease as an epidemic at this time,” he wrote.
1914 – Richard Peacon’s grocery store on Fleming Street carried a full line of groceries, cookware, and crockery. They also stocked Royal Scarlet, Sunbeam, and Crosse & Blackwell canned goods and preserves.
1923 – Concrete sidewalks were being installed on Margaret Street between Eaton and Caroline in Key West.
1939 – Key West Police Chief Ivan Elwood said, with increased police presence, people could visit Rest Beach without fear of rowdyism. Over the past few days, women had complained that several men were using profane language there.
1945 – The Florida East Coast Hotel Company sold the famed Long Key Fishing Camp to Scott H. Braznell of Miami for $35,000.
1951 – A Navy PBM crashed near Dredger’s Key on taking off from the Sea Plane base, killing eight of the nine-man crew.
1978 – A bomb made of 150 pounds of dynamite rigged with a trip wire was found on an isolated dirt road in Key Largo. Sheriff William Freeman suspected it had been placed by drug smugglers.
1984 – A Federal Grand Jury indicted a total of 22 people charged with a variety of offenses in connection with the operating of a cocaine trafficking ring and a protection network. Included in the group were the Key West deputy chief of police and two detectives.
1973 – Destroyer Squadron 18 and Submarine Squadron 12 were decommissioned in a joint ceremony at the Naval Station Key West. This ended station’s use as an active base for submarines and destroyers, which had begun before World War II.
1995 – Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the parking garage at the corner of Caroline and Grinnell streets.
1995 – The Navy held an official ribbon cutting for the Peary Court housing project. The site had been leased to the city for years, leading to a movement to stop the housing project.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Peacon’s Store in the 800 block of Fleming Street. Gift Harry Knight. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.