1859 – For the second time in a week, the Aurora Borealis was visible at Key West “as bright and vivid as in the northern states.”
1899 – Five new cases of yellow fever and one death were reported at Key West. The war department was trying to remove soldiers from the island but faced difficulty in doing so because of the strict quarantine.
1911 – Railroad construction crews laid one mile of rail on Cudjoe Key in one day. It was believed that it would be possible to run trains from Big Pine to Key West within 60 days.
1921 – A motion picture depicting the construction of the telephone cable between Key West and Havana was screened at the Strand Theater. It was the local debut of the film, and the occasion was met with great interest.
1930 – The Key West Citizen printed its first edition from the new building on Greene Street at the corner of Ann Street.
1935 – The most intense hurricane to hit the United States passed over Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. The category five storm had a barometer reading of 26.35 inches, winds estimated at around 200 mph, with tides 18 to 20 feet above normal. The storm killed nearly 400 people and ended the bankrupt Overseas Railroad.
1958 – Hurricane Ella caused gale force winds as high as 55 mph across the Keys, damaging trailers on Stock Island.
1970 – The Florida Marine Patrol’s new “Eye in the Sky” patrol plane assisted in the arrest of Manuel Olidora of Miami for disturbing another crawfisherman’s traps off Key Largo.
1979 – Hurricane David passed east of Key West with little local effect. For the first time on September 1, the Governor recommended all residents of the Florida Keys evacuate because of the potential effects of a hurricane.
1995 – Eliza Melicent “Skippie Doodle” Gardner died at the age of 100 years in the home where she was born. She taught school in Key West for 32 years, retiring in 1950.
2013 – Diana Nyad successfully swam from Cuba to Key West, her fifth attempt at the 110-mile journey. A crowd of 2,000 greeted the 64-year-old Nyad as she came ashore at Smathers Beach after 53 hours in the water.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The wreck of the Caribee Colony after 1935 Hurricane. From photo album of Ned McCarthy. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.