1822 – Captain John Fiveash established the first U.S. settlement at Key Vaca (Marathon). It was at the west end of the island, and they called it Port Monroe. Fiveash and his colleagues had two schooners, the Polly and Comet, for use in the wrecking business.
1823 – Commodore David Porter took possession of Key Vaca “on account of several intentional shipwrecks there, and an illicit trade being carried on by persons on the island.”
1862 – An order was issued that all boys under age 18, and all persons of color, were restricted from shooting game within Key West city limits and “too close” to the U.S. Army barracks. Additionally, all persons in the street found with concealed weapons were to be arrested.
1951 – The new $75,000 Wesley House was dedicated. The Wesley Community House began in Key West in 1899, as an extension of the Hargrove Institute.
1966 – Four Marathon divers – Jack Steffney, Mike Lopez, Ray Manieri, and Allen Swenson – said they had recovered $50,000 in treasure from the wreck of a Spanish galleon sunk in in the Keys in 1733.
1970 – Monroe County Sheriff’s officers raided a hippie compound on Grassy Key and netted 17 ounces of raw opium, the first time the drug had been seen in the county. Seven people there were arrested for vagrancy.
2011 – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management ruled that Wisteria Island in Key West Harbor was federal property.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Wesley House Community Center and Kindergarten, Ca. 1965. Photo taken by Property Appraiser’s Office. Monroe County Library Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center