1890 – Commander J.H. Winn, Commander Naval Base Key West, moved into the newly built commandant’s quarters (now known as the Little White House).
1907 – The School Superintendent dismissed the 675 students at the Russell Hall school in Key West because a barroom opened nearby. Mr. F. Rippi, proprietor, met with Dr. Harris and agreed to move the saloon entrance to a back street, away from the school.
1908 – The Coral City Choral Club was organized at Key West with 25 members. The purpose of the group was “the musical advancement of its members and the promotion of concerts, entertainments, and other social features.”
1910 – Election returns from Key Largo arrived in Key West, with nine voters having cast ballots there. The returns from Flamingo were not in as weather had delayed the schooner carrying ballots, and it was not known if voting there had yet taken place.
1964 – The power steering failed on a 23-ton truck, causing the driver to lose control and crash into the waterline at Summerland Key. Nearly 150 feet of the pipe was damaged. Florida Keys Aqueduct Commission crews were quickly on the scene to make repairs.
1980 – Heavy rain began about 8 a.m. and continued for the next 24 hours at a rate of about one inch an hour. The Weather Bureau recorded a total of 21.76 inches of rain, and flooding occurred throughout the city. One man, pulled by a Volkswagen, water-skied down Duval Street, past wildly cheering crowds.
2014 – A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the Vietnam Living Memorial in Key West’s Bayview Park. Over 200 people attended the event, many of them veterans of the Vietnam War.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A record high 22 inches of rain fell on Key West in 24 hours, November 11, 1980. Cory McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.