1895 – Wm. H. Williams, manager of the Key West Wrecking Company, returned from Cuba, where he had gone with a diver to salvage papers from the sunken Spanish warship Sanchez Barcaiztegui. Williams reported that the wreck was in deep water, with sharks swarming: It was impossible to recover anything.
1917 – The Key West post office was designated the “central accounting” post office for Monroe County. Those at Big Pine, Chase, Islamorada, Jewfish, Long Key, Marathon, Rock Harbor, Tavernier and Ramrod Key were named “district” offices.
1923 – The Key West Fire Department set an old barn on fire at the County Road (now Flagler Avenue) near Thompson Street. Then, in a demonstration of their skills and the utility of four new artesian wells sunk in that area, they extinguished the blaze.
1937 – Willard H. Morris arrived to serve as the new superintendent of the Fort Jefferson National Monument. Outgoing acting superintendent Philip Puderer said he was especially grateful to the WPA employees who had worked diligently to help him keep the fort and grounds in order.
1940 – Monroe County commissioners discussed establishing a county airport at Boca Chica Key. The Civil Aeronautics Authority had earmarked $705,000 for the project if the county would donate the land. Approximately 1,200 acres would have to be purchased at $35 per acre.
1950 – Playwright Tennessee Williams bought the house at the corner of Leon and Duncan streets from Mr. and Mrs. Lee Elmore for $13,000.
1951 – The City Planning Board approved a zoning change for the Dairy Queen to build on United Street near White Street.
1953 – Key West began a program to inoculate all children under 15 years with gamma globulin to prevent the paralytic form of polio. A 25-year-old Navy wife was diagnosed with the non-paralytic form of the disease that was the 35th case for the year.
2014 – Monroe County residents began receiving new, blue 65-gallon recycling bins to replace existing 18-gallon bins, which had proved too small.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Dairy Queen, 1297 United Street, Key West, C 1960s. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.