Today in Keys History – April 23, 2024
1833 – Dr. B.B. Strobel and D.C. Pinkham fought a duel in which Pinkham was shot in the chest and died. Strobel left for his former home in Charleston that night and never returned to Key West.
1930 – President Herbert Hoover prompted Congress to approve a $525,000 expenditure for the construction of a new post office at Key West.
1936 – William W. Demerritt received word from the U.S. Biological Survey in Washington that two blackbirds he had shipped there were of the “true tawny shouldered” species. They were the first of the type to ever be seen in the U.S., as their previously known range was limited to Hispaniola. Demerritt’s specimens were mounted and added to the national collection.
1974 – Boats illegally moored in Key West’s Garrison Bight began to be forcibly removed after a grace period ended. Only those with permits for berths at the newly built city piers were allowed to stay. The dilapidated old docks along North Roosevelt began to be demolished.
1975 – Key West police raided the “Proud Mary” docked along Houseboat Row, where approximately 30 members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang were living. An illegal dormitory structure had been attached to the vessel, and dirty mattresses and piles of garbage were removed before it was demolished.
1982 – In a mock ceremony, the Florida Keys seceded from the United States to protest the Border Patrol’s establishment of a roadblock at Florida City designed to check the citizenship of every person leaving Monroe County. Traffic delays caused by the roadblock had resulted in a dramatic drop in tourist traffic to the Keys. Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow announced the establishment of the new “Conch Republic,” of which he was Prime Minister.
2014 – With sea levels predicted to rise 3 to 7 inches over the next 20 years, Monroe County Commissioners agreed that all new governmental building construction would require elevation.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Working boats anchored in Garrison Bight in the 1970’s. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.