1898 – News arrived from the small community of Planter on Key Largo that the schooner Belle sailing from Indian River was caught in a gale off Key Largo and driven onto the reef. The vessel and its crew were thought to be lost.
1919 – A major hurricane passed south of Key West on a west-northwest track. Gale/hurricane force winds lasted from 7 a.m. on the ninth until 9:30 p.m. on the tenth with the highest wind of 110 mph. A barometer reading of 27.37 was recorded at the Dry Tortugas. The category four storm caused more than $2 million in damages.
1936 – Construction began on a convalescent center for members of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Key West, with a dormitory and six cottages being built at Fort Taylor.
1954 – “The Phantom Deer” by Joseph W. Lippinccott was published. The book, geared toward younger readers and set on Big Pine Key, tells the story of a boy’s friendship with a motherless Key deer fawn. The book helped spur awareness of the plight of the endangered species.
1958 – The winners in the Democratic primary were Bernie C. Papy, state representative; Joe Allen, tax assessor; A. Maitland Adams, county commissioner; William R. Warren Jr., school board and Ruth Alice Campbell, school board. Papy with his re-election and the defeat of Elbert Stewart of Hendry County became the dean of the Florida House.
1964 – The Beatles arrived at Key West International Airport at 4 in the morning and were greeted by a screaming mob of fans. The group had been scheduled to appear in Jacksonville, but Hurricane Dora forced them to Key West where they spent two days at the Key Wester Motel on South Roosevelt Boulevard.
1975 – After a seven-month undercover investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration began making arrests in an investigation dubbed “Operation Conch.” Among the 18 people indicted by the statewide grand jury in Tallahassee were the city attorney and fire chief.
2011 – The Key West fire bell, first installed over the cemetery in 1906 and used as an alarm into the 1950s, was moved to the Key West Firehouse Museum.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Damage from 1919 Hurricane. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.