Today in Keys History – December 10
1892 – The U.S. War Department decided that Key West would be garrisoned for the first time since the late 1870s, after Col. Lahrette Livingston chose the island as the station for one of his batteries. The persistent presence of yellow fever had made Army brass wary of the island.
1938 – City Attorney Henry H. Taylor Jr. filed incorporation papers for the Key West Federal Art Center. The center was a nonprofit organization dedicated to initiating and aiding cultural activity in the city. Mrs. Florence Spottswood was chairman.
1954 – Key West received bad publicity when Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper wrote about recent filming on the island: “I’ve always heard Key West is a rough place, but I’ve never heard of a rougher company than that making ‘The Rose Tattoo.’” Hopper told of how actress Virginia Grey was attacked by a local woman and suffered a broken rib during the shoot. The Chamber of Commerce denied the story.
1974 – A two-month-old program instituted by the Key West Police Department had resulted in the removal of over 200 junk cars from city streets, with many more set to be towed away.
1974 – Monroe County commissioners voted 3-2 to oppose the declaration of Monroe County as an “area of critical state concern,” citing the potential loss of tax revenue. The designation was intended to protect resources of statewide significance from uncontrolled development.
1993 – The new Monroe County Jail on Stock Island was dedicated.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Key West Art Center at 301 Front Street, ca. 1940. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection in the Otto Hirzel Scrapbook. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.