1847 – Congress approved $12,000 to build a new lighthouse at Key West, and another $20,00 to install a new screw-pile lighthouse at Sand Key. Both lights had been destroyed in the hurricane of October 1846.
1898 – The schooner Speedwell, Captain Collier, from Marco to Key West capsized and sank near the Marquesas Islands. Lost were Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Nichols Jr., their son and daughter. Also, lost were Captain Collier’s three sons. The Captain and three others were saved.
1911 – Monroe County started construction on two poor houses, at the rear of Windsor Lane.
1917 – Carl G. Fisher, of Indianapolis, won the Express Cruiser Speedboat Race from Miami. His boat, the Shadow II, took six hours and 17 minutes to cover the 161 miles. Five boats started the race but only two finished.
1923 – Mr. Fountain E. Ward, a New York travel agent, said Key West was backward for not advertising itself. “There are many thousands of people in the north who have no idea of what a paradise of perfection there is in Key West,” he said.
1924 – People were coming to realize that Florida Keys crawfish rivaled northern lobster, and local crawfishermen were having a difficult time keeping up with the increasing demand.
1926 – Key Wester John Ranger was fighting for his life at the home of his sister at 403 Caroline Street after having been shot on two days previously for no known reason by Arthur Baker. The area surrounding the home was blocked off to ensure a quiet zone to aid in his recovery. Baker was jailed, and his business, the Gold Cup Café, was ordered permanently closed by Mayor Leslie Curry.
1935 – A WWI veteran who had been employed on the highway bridges at the Matecumbe Keys stood naked on a Duval Street veranda and spoke about the difficulties faced by Upper Keys bridge workers.
1946 – The Walter R. Mickens Post No. 6021 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, under commander Alphonso Dean, received its charter.
1961 – A crowded, tumultuous, meeting of the Board of Directors of the San Carlos Institute resulted in a break in relations between the Institute and the government of Castro’s Cuba.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Some men with two wheelbarrows of large lobster on Pigeon Key circa 1920. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.