1909 – Upton Sinclair, author of “The Jungle,” was ill in the Louise Maloney Hospital in Key West. He was a passenger on the Mallory steamship Alamo, from Galveston to New York, when he became sick. After a few days of rest, he was released and sailed for New York.
1923 – Boy Scouts Arthur Tagle, Joseph Piodela, and Joseph Sawyer of Key West Troop 2, returned from a trip to Ramrod Key. The boys first walked to Ramrod and then came home on the train.
1939 – The yacht Blitzen, owned by R.J. Reynolds, won a race from Havana to Key West. The event was sponsored by the Key West Yacht Club.
1947 – Thousands of tons of dead fish had been seen from Harbor Key Bank to Pigeon Key over the past few days. No explanation could be found for the mass die-off other than some sort of poisoning event.
1949 – Louise Pennington, field representative of the Social Security Administration, announced that 199 residents of Monroe County were receiving Social Security benefits totaling $3,354.
1955 – The new Southernmost Motel on Duval and South Streets had twenty-eight of its planned 50 units open with the rest near completion. The motel owned by Ben and Aaron Mazur had a 25-by 50-foot swimming pool.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.