1691 – The frigate Nuestra Señora del Populo y la Aguila Dorada, from Havana to St. Augustine, wrecked at the Dry Tortugas.
1841 – Fourteen hundred hogsheads of Key West salt were sold in Boston at $2.50 per barrel.
1919 – A Key West branch of the Zionist Organization of America was organized, with Joe Pearlman, president; L. Lebos and Charles Aronovitz, vice-presidents; and Ethel Lebos, secretary. The ZOA’s goal was to establish a Jewish national homeland.
1923 – Publisher William Randolph Hearst arrived at Key West on his 200-foot yacht Oneida, and he and his travel companions went ashore for a sightseeing tour of the city.
1933 – After receiving many calls about reckless shooting, Key West Mayor Wm. Malone asked citizens to aid police and military officials in suppressing the promiscuous use of firearms on the island.
1940 – Franklin Roosevelt defeated Wendell Wilkie in Monroe County by a vote of 4,093 to 464. To celebrate, the Young Democratic Club of Monroe County held a victory ball at Pena’s Garden of Roses in Key West.
1961 – Ground was broken for a new City Hall on Angela Street at the corner of Simonton Street.
1966 – The Islamorada Branch of the Monroe County Public Library was officially opened.
1996 – As a compromise with the Lower Keys Ministerial Association, the Key West City Commission voted to allow the group to organize a private parade for December 7 that excluded gay residents. In turn, on December 14, the City of Key West would sponsor a public holiday parade that was open to all.
2013 – Because the municipality had missed the filing deadline, the Village of Islamorada asked the Local Restore Act Committee to reopen its application period for canal restoration grants.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Pena’s Garden of Roses that was in the 500 block of Thomas Street before World War II. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.