1889 – The Florida Legislature granted a new charter to the city of Key West that included the entire island within the city limits.
1890 – The Grand Army of the Republic led Decoration Day celebrations in Key West with a parade through town that stopped for memorial services at the City Cemetery and the Army Post Cemetery on White Street. The commemorations ended with a banquet at the Odd Fellows Hall.
1908 – The bridge at Tom’s Harbor near Conch Key had become a “curiosity shop,” with several hundred heads, tails, and fins of game fish nailed to the ties to show visitors the range of catches made there.
1927 – The Key West Construction Company announced that the highway was open for automobile traffic from Key West to Sugarloaf.
1950 – The U.S. Census of 1950 showed the population of Monroe County was 29,957, of whom 26,433 lived in Key West.
1953 – The B’nai Zion Social Hall and Religious School on Southard Street was dedicated.
1991 – Kimbell’s Caribbean Shipwreck Museum opened at MM 102.5 bayside on Key Largo. It featured exhibits about a variety of Keys wrecks.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Mrs. Harrington on one of the bridges of the first Overseas Highway, ca. 1930. The Heritage House Collection, donated by the Campbell, Poirier, and Pound families. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.