1841 – The schooner Columbia, sailing from Boston to Mobile, wrecked at Mangrove Key, 9 miles from Key West. The passengers and cargo were saved, but the vessel was a total loss.
1906 – A category 2 hurricane crossed the Upper Keys causing damage to the Overseas Railroad under construction. The storm hit the railroad construction crew without warning, killing 164, most when the houseboats in which they were living was carried to sea and sank.
1919 – Key West postman Frank Walker was shot and killed on Solares Hill by a man known only as “Shine,” a stevedore at the FEC docks. The murder came after an altercation at a coffee shop on the corner of Angela and Elizabeth streets.
1920 – The First Baptist Church of Key West was organized in the Harris School auditorium. The new, 56-member congregation was to be led by the Rev. M.C. Lunsford.
1922 – Robert Gabriel, an African American, died in Key West. He had served as State Representative for Monroe County and City Commissioner of Key West for six years.
1927 – It was uncertain if airplane mail service from Key West to Havana would be able to commence as scheduled for the following day because heavy rains had made the Meacham Field runway unusable. The only hope was to locate a seaplane that could make the journey.
1940 – State Administrator Roy Schroeder reported that the Florida Works Progress Administration had expended $3.15 million in Monroe County over the previous five years. The money was used for street and road improvements, sewerage and water mains, recreational facilities, airport facilities, mosquito control projects, and shoreline hardening, among other things.
1941 – Eugene A. and Eugene L. Gaudreau of Miami asked the Key West City Council for permission to dig for a buried treasure in the Botanical Gardens. The men received no official response, so Police Chief Ivan Elwood said they were free to search but could not dig any holes.
1944 – A hurricane with winds to 80 mph swept across the Keys The lowest barometer reading was 29.069 inches. The worst damage in the city was to South Roosevelt Boulevard and the Navy had six vessels in the outer harbor aground.
1995 – Key West’s famous Turtle Kraal Cannery fell into the water of Key West Bight. The city rebuilt the building which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
1996 – Hurricane Lili passed south of Key West with a little rain and wind.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The old Turtle Cannery before it fell in the water. Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.