1901 – St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Duval Street was destroyed by fire, though a large part of the church’s valuables were saved. The fire main system was undergoing repairs, and the lack of water hampered firemen’s efforts to battle the blaze.
1909 – Monroe County Deputy Sheriff B.W. Glisson arrived at Key West from Knight’s Key on the steamer Mascotte, with prisoners Manuel Moses, Nod Cornell, Elio McKinney, and E.E. Whalton. Glisson had arrested the men for selling whiskey without a license at the railroad work camps.
1915 – Forms were set for the first floor of the new concrete Automatic Telephone Company building in Key West. Telephone cable conduits were completed along Southard Street, from Whitehead to White, and work progressed along Simonton. Telephone poles were being installed in areas not served by the underground system.
1955 – Charley Toppino and Sons bought a 30-acre tract of land on Key West, running from Sunrise Shores to 11th Street, and from Flagler Avenue to the new canal, which would become Riviera Drive. The sale price was $150,000.
1968 – John N. Thompson, president of Thompson Enterprises, announced the sale of the company’s shrimp fleet, along with property and buildings on Caroline Street, to Sea Farms Inc.
1999 – Monroe County Sheriff Rick Roth received a check for $25 million from the U.S. Customs Service – the Sheriff’s Office’s share of money seized in a seven-year MCSO investigation into a drug smuggling and money laundering operation.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Toppino brothers and pilot Fred Johnson with an aerial photo of Key West, September 24, 1955. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.