1843 – There were three wrecks on the reefs near Key West: the Russian bark Harlampy, carrying 1,818 boxes of white Havana sugar and 200,000 cigars, and the New York brig R. Groning, along with the Philadelphia brig Lawrence, both bound to Apalachicola with valuable cargos.
1861 – After being stymied in his attempt to establish a court under the jurisdiction of the Confederate States of America on the island, judge McQueen McIntosh left Key West.
1893 – The sloop Gregory arrived at Key West after a two-week excursion to the Dog Rocks on the Cay Sal Bank. The crew brought 4,000 bird eggs and 2,600 whelks and realized “a good sum from the sale of the same.”
1924 – C.J. Huelsenkamp and Associates were granted a permit by Dade County to begin construction of a water pipeline that would run from Florida City to Lower Matecumbe Key. The company would ask for a similar permit from Monroe County. As it stood, all water in the Keys was obtained from rain or imported via railroad tankers.
1961 – Thirteenth Street was changed to Kennedy Drive and Fifth Street was changed to Macmillan Drive commemorating the meeting of President John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in Key West.
1986 – The City of Key West, by failing to take any action on several proposals, lost the right to buy Truman Annex. The former Navy base was later sold at public auction by the General Services Administration.
1989 – Monroe County Sheriff J. Allison DeFoor offered to take over law enforcement services for the City of Key West. DeFoor said his plan would save the city between $500,000 and $1.2 million annually.
2009 – Six years after his death, the estate of diving pioneer James E. Lockwood, Jr. donated $1 million to Florida Keys Community College’s School of Diving. The gift would allow the college to integrate its marine science and diving programs.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Truman Annex and Mallory Square, early 1980s. Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.