1836 – The lighthouse staff at Sand Key reported the small island 10 miles distant from Key West was being swarmed by an “innumerable quantity” of house flies, an unexplained circumstance which had never been known before.
1954 – The ferry boat City of Key West arrived at Key West from Miami. The 225-foot converted landing craft would be used to carry passengers and automobiles between the island city and Cuba.
1958 – Ralph E. Cummingham Jr. defeated J.Y. Porter IV in the Democratic primary runoff election for state representative group two.
1974 – Circuit Court Judge M. Ignatius Lester ordered Monroe County to submit a plan for the proper operation of its dump on Boot Key that would follow state and county regulations and include round-the-clock fire protection. A fire had broken out at the dump four days earlier, which prompted the ruling.
1976 – President Gerald Ford signed a military construction bill that included a provision to keep Naval Air Station Key West open. The station had been slated for closure or significant downsizing.
1986 – Ron Saunders was elected state representative for Monroe County in the Democratic primary, as there was no Republican opponent for a general election.
1987 – The Key West City Commission approved the annexation of Tank Island (now Sunset Key).
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An aerial view of Tank Island, also known as Sunset Key. Photo taken by the federal government on October 7, 1987. From the Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.