Today in Keys History – June 2, 2023
1909 – The schooner Edward W. Mudock arrived from Rockport, Maine with the last shipment of stone for the new jetty in the Northwest Channel.
1927 – Word reached Key West that a bill had been introduced in the Florida legislature that would prohibit the playing of golf and baseball on Sundays.
1933 – The Fifth Annual Tourists Sight Seeing Guide issued by the Key West Citizen was ready for the distribution. The guide was 12 pages with a map in the center.
1936 – The winners in an election in which 522 absentee ballots were the deciding factor were: Bernie C. Papy, state representative; Raymond Lord, county judge; Frank Ladd, tax collector; Clarence H. Pierce, school board; Ralph K. Johnson, school board; Franklin Arenberg, justice of the peace; Ray Elwood, constable and Enrique Esquinaldo Jr., justice of the peace.
1937 – The 22 bridge builders at the camp on Conch Key refused to work because the food they were being served was of poor quality.
1938 – A proposal for a fertilizer factory to be opened in the old warehouse at the Clyde-Mallory Docks (today’s Mallory Square) was heard at a special meeting of the Key West Chamber of Commerce. The fertilizer manufacturers said the operation would be odorless and employ 300 people.
1941 – Emory Lowe Pierce of Key West was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Florida.
1953 – A $330,000 loan was issued for the construction of a McCrorys Ten Cent store at the corner of Duval and Eaton streets. The one-story, concrete block store would replace the landmark Cash house, which had been demolished to make way for the new building. Many felt this would change the face of Duval Street for the worse.
1966 – Senator John M. Spottswood signed a contract to buy the Casa Marina and La Concha Hotels for an undisclosed price.
1984 – The largest real estate transaction in Monroe County history occurred when the developer of the planned Port Bougainvillea and Garden Cove on North Key Largo transferred 300 acres of land valued at $34,971,666 from his name to the development company.
1985 – Lilly Pulitzer Resort Wear, owners of Key West Hand Print Fabrics at 529 Front St., filed for bankruptcy and announced the closing of Hand Print Fabrics.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: McCrorys at 400 Duval Street on December 21, 1953. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.