1861 – Charles Tift of Key West was arrested by the U.S. marshal for providing money to the master of the steamer Salvor (aka M.S. Perry) to purchase of arms in Havana and smuggle them into a Confederate port.
1878 – A very long band of “poisonous water” was off the Gulf side of Key West, where vessels reported sailing through 200 miles of dead fish. It was said that along shore the water was salty and natural, but less than a mile out it was brick red.
1884 – The Jacksonville newspaper “The Florida Times Union” reported there were 22 liquor saloons in Key West.
1910 – A category 3 hurricane with winds to 125 mph at Sand Key hit Key West. The storm lasted 30 hours. Damage to shipping was heavy, but most of the town escaped serious damage as most buildings had survived the hurricane the previous year.
1941 – Federal priorities limiting the use of copper to defense purposes, including copper wire, blocked plans for the electrification of the Florida Keys.
1942 – Albert Carey, a teacher at Harris Grammar School in Key West, was appointed principal to fill the vacancy created by the drafting into the Army of Principal W.E. Fowler.
1950 – The City of Key West agreed to hire two new full-time firemen and three part-time policemen to bolster staff. As it stood, both departments required 56-hour, seven-day work weeks. The new hires would allow for policemen and firemen to have three days off per month.
1973 – The USS Amberjack (SS 522), the Navy’s last diesel submarine, was decommissioned and turned over to the Brazilian Navy in a ceremony at the Naval Station. The departure ended Key West’s submarine service that had begun in WW I.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The decommissioning of the USS Amberjack (SS 522). Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.