1822 – Congress denied a land grant to the East Florida Coffee Land Association. The group was asking for a 23,000-acre tract that included Key Largo “for the purpose of erecting a town and establishing a colony for the cultivating of vines, olives, almonds, coffee, cocoa, and cochineal.”
1902 – The four-masted schooner Monhegan, carrying a cargo of 10,000 bags of sugar from Havana to Delaware, ran aground at Molasses Reef near Key Largo. The crew was rescued, but high seas caused to schooner to beat on the reef and sink. It was expected to be a total loss.
1946 – The Republic Oil Co. stopped its test drilling of a well at Card Sound. A company official said further results were disappointing following the discovery of an “oil show.” The well had reached a depth of 10,450 feet with nothing found but a type of limestone that was unfavorable for oil.
1973 – The USS Howard W. Gilmore departed the Naval Station for her new home port of La Madeleine, Sardinia. The Gilmore, a submarine tender, was the largest Navy ship to be stationed in Key West.
1976 – The Historic Key West Preservation Board agreed to sign a lease with the San Carlos Institute thus putting the protective cover of “historic building” on the San Carlos.
1955 – Gulf Oil Company announced that it would drill a test oil well northwest of Marathon.
1986 – Key West Harbor Development, the company that the city had chosen to finance and redevelop Truman Annex, withdrew from its agreement. The company claimed that action by the Key West City Commission had breached its contract with the redevelopment agency.
1996 – Key West City Commission approved the AIDS memorial plaza to be built at the entrance to the White Street Pier.
2007 – Three scuba divers from New Jersey died at Spiegel Grove shipwreck, located six miles off Key Largo. The three had penetrated deep into the 510-foot-long ship, become disoriented, and run out of air.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Key West AIDS Memorial at the ocean end of White Street taken May 19, 2006. Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.