1860 – The ship Cerro Gordo, carrying 1889 bales of cotton from New Orleans to Ireland, was driven onto a shoal near Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas during a heavy gale. Wreckers from Key West and the Tortugas expected to recover one third of the cargo in good condition; the rest was damaged.
1877 – The following were winners in the city election: L.W. Bethel, mayor; Peter T. Knight, clerk; Richard C. Roberts, marshal; William D. Albury, tax collector; William Curry, treasurer; and commissioners Robert Gabriel, George D. Warren, Domingo Andre, Charles Curry, F.W. Roberts, John Long Jr., Samuel Filer, Jeremiah Fogarty and B.P. Baker.
1915 – Boxers Jake Abel and Hugh Ross fought a match at the San Carlos called “one of the cleanest fights ever pulled off in Key West.” The tight, ten-round battle was declared a draw.
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.
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 electric and cable TV but very little other damage.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Navy men holding the basket under a hot air balloon in February 1919. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.