Today in Keys History – May 29, 2023
1828 – Congress passed a bill establishing a territorial or federal court at Key West under the title of the Superior Court of the Southern Judicial District of the Territory of Florida.
1924 – The South Florida Engineering and Contracting company was awarded the contract for the construction of two stone schoolhouses, one at Rock Harbor and one at Matecumbe. The cost for building the new schools was $5,260.
1930 – A.J. Page completed his new building at the corner of Duval and Fleming streets. Dr. Harry N.S. Jones announced he was moving his office to the building.
1937 – Sloppy Joe’s Bar had their grand opening at its new location on the corner of Duval and Greene streets at 9:30 p.m. There was free dancing to George Dean’s Swing Band and souvenirs for everyone.
1941 – Monroe County Attorney Julius F. Stone, Jr. encouraged Monroe County residents to vote for the construction of an Army airport at Boca Chica, citing likely investment by the military and growth of the local economy.
1962 – In the Democratic primary, Hilario “Charlie” Ramos Jr won a stunning victory over Bernie C. Papy for the post of State Representative. Papy had held the office for 28 years and was the dean of the Florida House.
1962 – The Navy announced that the first of the 420 duplex housing units at Sigsbee Park was being occupied.
1969 – Norman D. Artman left the Key West Citizen as publisher. He had taken over the paper after his father’s death in 1952 and was owner and publisher until December 1968, when he sold the paper to Charles H. Morris but remained as publisher during the transition.
1973 – Divers for Treasure Salvors, Inc. recovered more than 4,000 silver coins and other miscellaneous artifacts from a shipwreck near the Marquesas Keys they thought was the galleon Santa Margarita, sunk in 1622. Their underwater efforts were hampered by large amounts of indigo dye carried by the ship still being mixed in the sand, which raised billowing clouds of blue as they worked and turned the divers and their gear blue, as well.
1981 – Captain Thomas W. Brown relieved Captain W.I. Lewis as Commanding Officers Naval Air Station Key West.
2007 – The Deli Restaurant at the corner of Truman and Simonton Streets closed after 57 years of business.
2013 – No Name Key was connected to the commercial power grid.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Aerial of Navy housing being built on Gilmore Drive in Sigsbee Park, circa 1960. Photo by Airdevron One. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.