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Today in Keys History – May 4, 2024

Writer's picture: Keys History CenterKeys History Center

1861 – Major Wm. French, commanding officer at Key West, met with Mayor J.P. Baldwin to work toward defusing tensions between the island’s citizenry and the military. Much of the mistrust was aggravated by the writings of the pro-secessionist “Key of the Gulf” newspaper. 

1926 – The voters approved a $200,000 school bond by 286 to 32. The money was used for an addition to the Monroe County High School and a kindergarten on Reynolds Street.

1940 – The Key West Housing Authority was considering names for two new complexes. Among the suggestions were “Henry M. Flagler Houses,” “Cayo Hueso Houses,” “Naval Gardens,” and “Booker T. Washington Village.”

1942 – The U.S. freighter Norlindo was torpedoed northwest of the Dry Tortugas by German U-boat 507, making the merchant ship the first victim of the Nazi WWII offensive in the Gulf of Mexico.

1974 – The Key West High School Band received a “superior” rating at the Florida state competition in St. Petersburg, the only South Florida band to be awarded such high distinction.

1989 – Key Largo hotelier James W. Hendricks was petitioning Congress to allow his boat The African Queen to be used for passenger tours. The 77-year-old steamboat, namesake of a 1951 movie, required an exemption to operate commercially in U.S. waters because it had been built in England.

2011 – The City of Key West and the Monroe County School District entered a formal conflict resolution process after the newly-rebuilt Horace O’Bryant School was found to exceed the city’s height cap by more than 30 feet.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: Horace O’Bryant Middle School in Key West on June 9, 2006. Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

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