1851 – The brig Yucatan, wrecked while sailing from Trinidad de Cuba to New York, was condemned and sold at auction in Key West for $1,122. The cargo was appraised at $10,695. Wreckers were awarded 45 percent of the total.
1861 – Confederate Civil War diarist Robert Watson wrote from Key West, “Owing to the political affairs of the country and the Federal troops having possession of this place, and as it is rather unsafe for a southern man to live here, I have determined to leave in disgust…”
1899 – There were 47 new cases of yellow fever at Key West, with two new deaths. Twenty-two Key Westers fled to the Dry Tortugas to find refuge from the disease.
1910 – An overnight fire destroyed the Silver Dollar Saloon at the corner of Duval and Southard streets. The adjoining La Plata coffee shop and a barber shop were heavily damaged.
1917 – A Mr. Alexandine, a German national, was arrested at Key West by Department of Justice officials on suspicion of being a spy. Alexandine claimed to be going to Cuba but did not have the proper paperwork to enter there. In lieu of jail, he was being held in the Over Sea Hotel, paying $3 a day for a guard.
1933 – The Sombrero Lodge was completed at Marathon by developer Edmund H. Harvey at a cost of $40,000. The 51-acre complex was built for sportsmen and their families, and it was to be “the established rule that no transients would be admitted to the lodge.”
1963 – Roger A. Foster, who was accused of murdering Douglas Trevor and his son Edward on the charter boat Dream Girl, was determined to be insane and was committed to the state mental institution. He would later be found competent to stand trial and convicted for the murders.
1997 – The Key West Memorial Sculpture Garden at Mallory Square was dedicated.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Captain Douglas Trevor, son Edward, and first mate, with a party and their catch caught on the Dream Girl. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.