Today in Keys History – March 20, 2024
1923 –A fire began in the unoccupied cigar factory at the corner of White and Newton streets. It spread and destroyed 43 homes in the area bound by White, Ashe, Angela and Petronia streets. The loss was estimated at $125,000 and 40 families were left homeless.
1924 – A U.S. Navy eagle-class submarine patrol boat was disabled off the Dry Tortugas. The tug Saukee and destroyer Farquhar left from Key West to render assistance.
1926 – All Monroe County law enforcement officers were on high alert after a group of “yeggmen” dynamited the Bahamas treasury in Nassau and made off by boat with a ton of coins and bills. It was thought they might have been headed toward the Florida Keys.
1956 – May Sands, a teacher in the Monroe County School System for 47 years, died at the age of 71. The May Sands School on United Street in Key West was named for her.
1959 – The Navy made the last operational fight with an airship from Naval Air Station Key West. All the airships (blimps) were transferred to Naval Air Station Glynco, Georgia.
1974 – Boats began moving to Tarpon Pier, one of four new piers constructed at Garrison Bight for private pleasure craft. With opening of the new dockage, all vessels would be required to vacate the old berths along North Roosevelt Boulevard.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: May Sands, schoolteacher, (1885-1956). Photo gift of Don Lowe. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.