1911 – The steamer Luckenbach was aground eight miles from Key West and in a dangerous situation. The lives of the 28 men onboard were in peril, and the owners had appealed to the Navy to send a rescue tug to assist.
1924 – A project to improve Boca Chica Key was underway, with the goal of building a casino and bathing pavilion, as well as bungalows on the beach. Later in the year, once a bridge was completed from there to Stock Island, visitor activity was expected to greatly increase.
1933 – With little cash on hand, the Key West City Council adopted a plan to issue stamp scrip in lieu of actual dollars. The scrip would be in 50-cent and $1 denominations, and when the value in city-issued stamps was eventually affixed to each piece of scrip, it could be redeemed for cash. There would be no more than $3,000 of outstanding Key West scrip at any one time.
1949 – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived at the Naval Station. The General had been ill with a reported stomach ailment and was treated at the Key West Naval Hospital.
1966 – The Lighthouse Military Museum opened in the lighthouse keeper’s quarters on Whitehead Street.
1983 – A Dade County Circuit Court jury deliberated for 58 minutes before finding Bobby Marion Francis guilty of first-degree murder in the August 1976 slaying of Titus Walters in Key West. This was the third conviction of Francis for the murder. The early convictions had been overturned on appeal. The jury recommended life in prison, but Judge Phillip Knight sentenced Francis to death.
1998 – Circuit Court Judge Steven Shea gave the oath of office to the first Islamorada Village Council. The new Council then elected Ron Levy as the first mayor.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The beach by Luther Pinder’s tourist camp on Boca Chica about 1935. The first highway can be seen. The Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.