
Key West Mayor Kermit Lewin cuts the ribbon at the premiere of the film “Escape from Hell Island.”
1890 – George Hudson was named Key West Postmaster.
1934 – Ernest Hemingway caught a large sailfish while trolling in the Atlantic on board his cabin cruiser Pilar. The fish was 9 feet and ¾ inches and weighed 119 ½ pounds, which Hemingway suspected was near, if not, record size.
1956 – Presidential candidate Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver was campaigning in Key West. He promised Mayor C.B. Harvey that if he was elected, he would make Key West his vacation headquarters.
1956 – Captain Tommy Lones of the charter boat Gulf Stream, fishing in 110 feet of water off the Western Dry Rocks, caught a Great White Shark that weighed 2,300 pounds.
1964 – “Escape From Hell Island,” the Key West made and locally backed movie had its world premiere at the San Carlos. It received less than glowing reviews.
1966 – Capt. E.E. Lewis of the shrimp boat Trade Winds snagged his net in 1,300 feet of water southeast of the Dry Tortugas. After freeing the net and hauling it in, Lewis and crew found it contained rocks, pieces of metal, and three large, egg-shaped, earthenware jugs typical of those carried on Spanish ships in the 1600s.
1973 – To the cheers of a full house, Monroe County commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with a translator-television system that would bring free, over-the-air TV to Monroe County residents. For years before, a subscription cable service was the only way to receive a television signal in the remote Florida Keys.
1980 – Directors of the Key West Chamber of Commerce asked the Governor to declare Key West an economic disaster area and release state funds for tourist advertising because of the adverse impact of the Mariel boatlift.
1982 – The new Seven Mile Bridge was dedicated by Congressman Dante Fascell and 1,300 runners took part in the first bridge run. The new span was opened for traffic on May 24th.
1986 – The 118th and last class graduated from Mary Immaculate High School (formerly the Convent of Mary Immaculate). There were 18 members of the class of 1986.
2008 – After three years of construction, the new Jewfish Creek Bridge just north of Key Largo opened. Passage was temporarily limited to the northbound lanes, which hosted both directions of traffic, pending the completion of the southbound lanes.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Mayor Kermit Lewin cutting the ribbon at the opening of the movie “Escape from Hell Island.” Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.