1926 – Indigent “snowbirds” were beginning to arrive at Key West. Local authorities were seeking ways to find them employment, forward them to Cuba, or send them “back over the road,” before they became public charges.
1932 – After an 11-day drive from a hunting trip in Montana and Wyoming, Ernest Hemingway and Charles Thompson returned to Key West. The men awaited delivery of their trophies, the heads of two bull elk and the skins of two black bears.
1934 – Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas was slated to be transferred from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior and designated a national monument. The transfer awaited approval from President Franklin Roosevelt.
1937 – The Harris School lunchroom opened. Meals could be purchased, or they were provided free for students in need. The first offering was beef stew and vegetables, rice, whole wheat bread, and milk.
1942 – Word arrived that Key Wester Lieut. Charles H. Felton was presumed lost after the aircraft carrier USS Wasp was torpedoed by an enemy submarine near the Solomon Islands on September 15.
1965 – The permanent Army Hawk missile battery just north of Key West International Airport was dedicated by Admiral T.A. Christopher and Mayor Kermit Lewin.
1985 – The Fantasy Fest parade was headed by Grand Marshal Jimmy Buffett, who rode in a car with Key West Mayor Richard Heyman. The theme of the seventh annual event was “Broadway Fantasies.”
1994 – Buddy Owen’s famous B.O.’s Fish Wagon on Duval Street was moving to a new home near the Key West Bight at the corner of Caroline and William streets.
2000 – Key West police arrested more than 20 people for nudity during Fantasy Fest celebrations.
2011 – A study found that 29% of Monroe County children did not have health insurance, 3.5 times the national average. It was thought the high number was indicative of the lack of benefits offered to service industry workers.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: BO’s Fish Wagon on Duval Street at the corner of Fleming C. 1980’s. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.