1858 – Professor Louis Agassiz of Harvard University was at Key West continuing his multi-year examination of the Florida reef and collect specimens for his work on natural history.
1859 – The U.S. Marshal at Key West arrested the crew of a brig that had grounded on the reef. It was suspected that they had illegally delivered a cargo of enslaved Africans to Cuba then deliberately wrecked their ship to destroy the evidence.
1908 – Two new customs inspectors were stationed at Knight’s Key, making a total of four inspectors and one deputy collector stationed there. The port had only been opened a few weeks, but traffic between there and Cuba was strong.
1924 – Milton W. Curry established an aquarium at Curry’s Fish Market and Wharf. The tank was glass plate on all sides and measured 9-feet long, four wide, and three deep. Peter B. Roberts was manager of the aquarium, and local fishermen had agreed to supply specimens.
1926 – The Junior Ku Klux Klan burned a cross between 10 and 11 o’clock in the vicinity of the “second Martello tower.”
1940 – Captain Walter F. Jacobs, Commander of the Naval Station, turned the first spade full of dirt to begin construction of the new Naval Air Station at Trumbo Point. Ivy H. Smith Company of Jacksonville did the construction of the hangar and other structures.
1946 – The Monroe County Commission passed a resolution allowing Gulf Oil Corporation to improve the roads and the Perky and Gandolph bridges on Sugarloaf Key to aid their oil exploration efforts on the island.
1969 – A team of Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies raided a secret military training base for Haitian exiles located deep in remote mainland Monroe County and arrested twelve men. The base was run by former U.S. military personnel, who were training the Haitians to fight against the Duvalier government. The men were taken to Plantation Key.
1983 – The USS Hercules, sixth of a squadron of fast missile-armed Navy hydrofoil ships based in Key West, was commissioned in a ceremony at Trumbo Point. Admiral Daniel J. Murphy, U.S. Navy retired, Chief of Staff to Vice President George Bush was the speaker.
1987 – The Holiday Inn-La Concha reopened after a $20 million restoration.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Postcard of Florida East Coast Railway, Key West Extension. The steamer Montauk alongside Knight’s Key Dock. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.