1856 – No rain had fallen at Key West for two months, and cistern water was rapidly diminishing. The dry weather was promising for a good salt crop, though, and if it continued it was thought the salt works might produce upwards of 100,000 bushels.
1861 – Lt. Craven of the USS Crusader issued a notice setting forth the rules of the naval blockade of the Southern States.
1926 – Kate, a beloved mule employed by the city of Key West for 15 years to pull carts, died in her stable next to City Hall. Kate’s caretaker, Ben Saunders, was greatly grieved over her death.
1927 – The Key West City Council reviewed and approved a list identifying 350 unsafe and undesirable buildings on the island. It was ordered that 50 dilapidated shacks be razed immediately.
1934 – Fishermen from Thompson Fish Company while skinning a shark found human foot bones and a slipper in the shark’s stomach. No identification was every made of the remains.
1937 – A bomb was detonated at 2:20 a.m. near a home at Elizabeth Street and Galveston Alley. The porch and a fence were damaged, and several windows blown out. Neighbors noted the house had many guests and suspected “that some relative of a visitor may have decided to give warning to the dwellers in the house that the practice of receiving visitors, and some one in particular, had better cease.”
1941 – At the final business meeting of the season, members of the Key West Woman’s Club voted unanimously to purchase the Hellings Building at 319 Duval Street. Aside from using the brick building for their club functions, the members intended to also use it for the public library, which they sponsored.
1995 – The Coast Guard sent 13 Cuban refugees back to Cuba. This was the first group returned in 35 years based on a new policy requiring refugees to land on U.S. soil before they could stay.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Imaae: Woman’s Club 25th Anniversary 1940. Members identified are Marie Cappick, Mrs. A.D. Leuthie, Mrs. G.N. Goshorn, Mrs. Allan B. Cleare, Mrs. Stephen Douglas, Mrs. Hayden Illingworth, Minnie Porter Harris, Mrs. Norberg Thompson, Mrs William R. Warren and Mrs. Edward Bayley. Photo by Jack Harris. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.