1863 – U.S. Navy vessels in the port of Key West were the steamers San Jacinto, Huntsville, Clyde, Port Hudson, De Soto, Honduras; the ships Dale and Purest; and the schooners Wanderer, Ariel, and Anne.
1864 – Henry Hamilton and Darius Stokes, members of the 2nd USCT, were executed at Key West, probably by a firing squad, for mutiny that occurred at Ship Island, Mississippi, in December 1863.
1939 – Mr. Z.D. Harrison of the Health Unit announced that easements for the Works Progress mosquito ditching project had been secured in Key West and that he would next be working to find areas in Stock Island and Boca Chica. Mosquito-eating minnows had also been placed in local cisterns to good effect.
1940 – Pauline Hemingway was granted a divorce from husband Ernest, based on the charge that he had deserted her. Mrs. Hemingway was awarded their Key West home on Whitehead Street.
1952 – The Key West City Commission leased the Mallory Docks to shrimping operator Harry Goldberg for use as a shrimp packing facility. Ultimately, the city intended to use the dock for a Key West-Havana ferry, so Goldberg had to agree to vacate the premises “for any reason at any time.”
1974 – The City Commission passed two ordinances that prohibited high rises buildings in Key West.
2008 – Monroe County voters preferred Senator Barack Obama over Senator John McCain 52% to 47% in the U.S. presidential election.
2011 – Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, accompanied by the Coral Reefer Band, played a 75-minute, 15-song set on Duval Street for the 20th annual “Parrot Heads in Paradise” gathering.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Champion Seafood Company on Mallory Docks C 1950. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.