1887 – Dr. Joseph W.V.R. Plummer was re-elected mayor of Key West over George B. Patterson by a vote of 471 to 380.
1889 – Yellow fever had struck at the Methodist parsonage in Key West, and any communication and interaction with the site by the public was forbidden by health officials.
1899 – There were 23 new cases of yellow fever and one death at Key West in the previous 24 hours. The weather was cooling, and it was hoped the disease would decrease.
1909 – A category 3 hurricane with winds over 100 mph and rain fall of 8.12 inches in five hours struck the Island. The buildings wholly destroyed were the cigar factories of The Ruy Lopez Company; The Martinez Company; George W. Nichols & Company’ and Aurelia Torres; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; Sparks Chapel; English Wesleyan Church, Bethel A.M.E. Church; Fire Station #1, Wolfson’s building, and Markovitz’ five and ten cent store.
1917 – The Methodist church sold the Hargrove Institute on United Street to the U.S. Navy Department, which intended to use the complex as a hospital.
1920 – The New York Giants baseball team was in Key West and played the local squad; the visitors won 10 to 5. Four thousand people watched the game.
1954 – Navy officials objected to the expansion of Key West’s Meacham Field airport because it was too near the Navy airfield at Boca Chica. The Civil Aeronautics Authority was expected to make a survey of flight patterns to determine if a resolution was possible.
2013 – The City of Key West broke ground on a new, two-story, three-bay, $5.9 million fire station at the corner of Angela and Simonton streets.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Ruth Hargrove Seminary on United Street C 1915. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.