1854 – A letter from Key West stated that since the beginning of the year there had been 28 vessels wrecked upon the Florida Reef. Salvaged property brought before the court was valued at $256,189.74, with wreckers awarded $46,989.92 – an average of 18 cents paid to the wreckers for every dollar of property they saved.
1875 – The Mayor and Health Officer at Key West issued a bulletin stating that the island was perfectly healthy. Their announcement was to counter a dispatch from Washington, DC, that said multiple cases of yellow fever were on the island and that two people had died from the disease.
1905 – The Key West Council of the Knight of Columbus was organized.
1920 – Twelve hundred U.S. marines were ordered from Philadelphia to Key West to join Navy destroyers headed there. The forces were to be in Key West in readiness for any problems arising from a Mexican revolution.
1924 – Sixty-five train-car loads of Cuban pineapples were landed at Key West. The fruit was then transferred to special trains for shipment northward.
1929 – Miss Mollie Parker was admitted to practice as counselor, solicitor, advocate and proctor before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
1932 – The Key West Library was presented an old ship’s figurehead, a hand carved eagle, in memory of Captain Robert T. Menner, Commandant of the Seventh Naval District, who had died at Key West three weeks earlier.
1935 – Nearly 8,000 pounds of fresh vegetables arrived at Key West from the Federal Transient Camp in Miami for distribution to people on relief.
1951 – The Margaret Ann Supermarket opened at 1835 Flagler Ave. In 1956, all Margaret Ann stores were renamed to Kwik Check.
1987 – City Electric System announced that the electric tie-line to the mainland had been successfully energized.
1992 – A special premiere showing the Key West filmed movie “CrissCross” was held at Cobb Cinema-6 as a benefit for the MARC House.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Imaae: Florida East Coast Railway, Key West Extension. Cuban pineapples being repacked at the Trumbo Point railroad yard for shipment to the North. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.