Today in Keys History – November 16, 2024

Aerial view of an island.

1906 – The Episcopal bishop’s yacht Message of Peace arrived at Key West from Nassau with Rev. Father Andley J. Brown and H.W. Weigall to begin a series of services at St. Peter’s church.

1927 – The Monroe County, the first of the ferries to be used on the water gap in the first Overseas Highway, was launched in Jacksonville.

1964 – Four wooden shacks on Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas burned to the ground. The blaze ignited brush and nearly reached the Loggerhead Lighthouse before Coast Guard personnel extinguished the flames.

1968 – A three-year effort by the Reverend Russell Burns to obtain a major league baseball farm team was achieved when the Florida State League announced that the San Diego Padres would sponsor a team in Key West in 1969.

1982 – At the organizational meeting of the Monroe County Commission Jerry Hernandez was elected mayor.

1999 – Frank E. Taylor, owner and associate editor of Solares Hill newspaper, died at age 83. He worked as an editor at several publications before he retired to Key West in 1980. He also produced the movie, “The Misfits,” starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: An aerial view of Loggerhead Key at the Dry Tortugas in 1963. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

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