Today in Keys History – April 24, 2024
1886 – A fundraising effort in Cuba to aid those displaced by the great Key West fire totaled $3,550. There were 652 refugees from Key West in Havana, and they were being supported by the funds.
1908 – In commencement exercises held at the San Carlos Institute, Lancelot Lester became the first graduate of Key West High School.
1930 – A report by the Florida Department of Agriculture showed that Monroe County had consumed 157,270 gallons of gasoline during the month of March.
1980 – Two boats every five minutes were being launched at Garrison Bight to form an armada of small craft bound for Cuba in hopes of bringing their families to the U.S. The total number of refugees who had arrived in Key West was estimated at 765.
1985 – Writer Alison Lurie, a winter resident of Key West, won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel “Foreign Affairs.”
2019 – Boaters fishing in 40-feet of water off Geiger Key were surprised when a 15-foot great white shark came to investigate their activities. Earlier in the week, a similarly sized great white was seen between Looe Key and American Shoal.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The New Ferry Slip Store and gas station on Upper Matecumbe Key sometime before the 1935 Hurricane. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.