Today in Keys History – July 22, 2024
1853 – The bark Robert Morris, sailing from Cienfuegos to Philadelphia, wrecked at Pelican Shoal after everyone on board was stricken by illness. Wreckers were assisting.
1859 – Cotton recovered from the ship Indian Hunter, wrecked at French Reef, was auctioned in Key West at an average of $19.70 per bale, with total sales near $10,000. Nearly 1,600 bales remained in the wreck, with 800 likely salvageable.
1925 – Governor John W. Martin named Miss Ileen Williams as the county’s first Juvenile Judge.
1946 – The War Department announced that the Submarine Base at Key West would be dredged to a depth of 28 feet below the low water line. All the dredge spoil would be deposited above the three-fathom contour at Kingfish Shoals.
1981 – The Navy began dismantling the large radio towers that had stood at the Key West Naval Station since the early part of the 1900s.
1982 – Two men doused the cabin of an Air Florida flight bound for Key West with gasoline. They then brandished cigarette lighters and hijacked the plane to Cuba.
1990 – The movie “Crisscross” was being filmed in Key West.
1990 – Work started on a Winn-Dixie supermarket in the new Overseas Market shopping center on North Roosevelt Boulevard. The 57,800-square-foot store would be the largest on Florida.
1994 – In a court order, possession of the house at 529 Caroline Street was transferred to the City of Key West, and police promptly evicted five renters living there without warning. The owner had been charged with selling drugs from the home in 1991.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Bird’s eye view of U.S. Naval and Wireless Station at Key West, ca. 1920. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.