1896 – Juana Borrero Pierra, Cuban patriot, poet and painter, died of tuberculosis in Key West at the age of 18. Borrero began painting at age 5 and wrote her first poem at 7. By 1891, her work began to be recognized and published. Her gravesite in the Key West Cemetery was unidentified until 1972, when it was found by the Cuban Society of Archaeology and Ethnology in Exile.
1906 – The Kelley Carnival Company arrived at Key West aboard the steamer Halifax from Havana to begin a 10-day engagement at Jackson Square. Proceeds from the fair would benefit the Key West guards.
1926 – Taxi service began in Key West with two automobiles operated by the Yellow Cab system. The cars, brought from New York, were stationed at Hotel La Concha and were on call day and night.
1943 – The Office of Price Administration issued a warrant for the arrest of an unnamed “prominent Key Wester” for violating the rent-ceiling regulations and charging more than was allowed. The warrant came after the OPA had conducted investigations on the island two weeks earlier.
1976 – The newly developed Windsor Village Condominium compound sold units to a number of famous authors. Authors buying units in the compound were Richard Wilbur, John Hersey, Ralph Ellison and John Ciardi.
2000 – More than three hundred residents living from Big Pine Key to Bay Point met at Sugarloaf school to discuss the merits of incorporating the Lower Keys as a city.
2007 – State officials announced that the popular, 25-year-old observation tower adjacent to the visitor’s center at Key Largo’s John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park would be removed, citing increased tree canopy that obstructed the view and rendered it pointless.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The grave of exiled Cuban poet and artist Juana Borrero (1877-1896) in Key West City Cemetery. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.