1898 – The Court of Inquiry investigating the loss of the Battleship Maine met in the Key West Custom House.
1923 – United Daughters of the Confederacy representative Mrs. M.E. Bond of Macon, Georgia, visited the Harris School in Key West in the hope of establishing a chapter of the Children of the Confederacy there.
1954 – Six Navy men were killed when two helicopters collided in midair over Fleming Key. The aircraft attached to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron One had just taken off from the Trumbo Point base.
1974 – As of this date, conventional loans for improved real estate and mobile homes in designated “flood hazard” areas of Monroe County were required to be secured by flood insurance.
1981 – A backhoe loaded on a truck crossing the Seven Mile Bridge hit the overhead bridge tender’s shack, rupturing a 1,000-gallon propane tank. It caused a fire that killed the bridge tender, Peter C. Fancher, and destroyed the swing bridge mechanisms. The bridge was closed for 22 hours; the swing bridge was never fixed and was removed when the new Seven Mile Bridge opened.
1986 – Port Bougainville, a controversial 3,000-unit development on North Key Largo, was revived after having gone into receivership when developers submitted restructured plans to the Army Corps of Engineers.
2000 – A survey of Monroe County residents showed a largely unfavorable view toward tourism in the Keys. Most respondents favored decreased funding for the Tourist Development Council and increased funding for local infrastructure, especially that related to the environment.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Flooding on Cross and Eighth streets, Stock Island, ca. 1970s. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.