1823 – Captain Ellison of the sloop Eclipse stopped at Key West and was informed that 30 naval officers and 50 enlisted men had recently died of yellow fever.
1907 – The Atlantic DeForest wireless station at Key West was in contact with the station at Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1,200 miles away.
1917 – An Army balloon corps was assigned to Key West as a branch of the U.S. coast defenses and reinforcement for the existing artillery force.
1931 – Frank Mastragani “The Monkey Man” died at age 75. He was one of the colorful characters of Key West for more than 50 years. He first arrived on the island with a hand organ and a monkey. He later had a fruit and vegetable store first on Fleming Street then Duval Street.
1932 – A house belonging to R.C. Perky at the northern end of Key Largo burned to the ground. Arson was suspected.
1940 – Karl Tanzler (who called himself “Von Cosel”) was freed from the Monroe County jail when two local citizens posted his $1,000 bail. Von Cosel had been arrested for removing the body of Elena Hoyos Mesa from its grave and holding it at his home for seven years. The men who provided the money for the bond felt Tanzler had been acting only out of kindness.
1978 – Federal Judge William O. Mehrtens ruled that the 11 stilt houses built in the shallow water to the west of Key West must be removed.
1987 – A hurricane that was called “Feeble Floyd” passed over Key West and the eye of the storm traveled the length of the Keys from west to east. The category one storm left most of the Keys without electricity and cable TV but caused very little other damage.
1988 – Four graves were uncovered during construction at Truman Annex. The burials, along and under Emma Street near where it meets Front Street, were likely from Key West’s first cemetery, dating between 1822 and 1831.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Fishing shacks twelve miles from Key West. Bill Daniel Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.