1963 – Sam Golan, owner of the Key Ambassador Hotel and the Holiday Inn, was named president of Key West Films, Inc. The company’s mission was to create Keys-based films, and it had recently backed the production of “Man In the Water,” (aka “Escape From Hell Island”) starring Mark Stevens.

1961 – Charles Helberg, the builder and original proprietor of the Key Wester hotel, resumed control of the resort after it had been under the charge of an absentee hotel management group for four years. Helberg said the absentee model did not serve patrons, employees, or the community very well.

2010 – Nearly 200 Key West residents met with city staff to offer ideas for the development of 6.6 acres of land in Truman Waterfront Park. Creating an open green space and turning a former Navy mess hall into a community center were the leading choices.

1982 – The Florida Keys seceded from the United States in a mock ceremony to protest the U.S. Border Patrol’s establishment of a roadblock at Florida City to check the citizenship of everyone leaving Monroe County.

1943 – The Pirate’s Cove Fishing Lodge, along Bow Channel on Sugarloaf Key, was turned over to the Coast Guard. Work started immediately to convert the buildings into barracks for the Guardsmen who would be protecting Keys waters. 

1980 – The Key West fishing boats Dos Hermanos and Blanche III arrived in Key West with 48 Cuban refugees, which began the Mariel Boatlift.

1959 – Some 25 members of the Marathon-based Tortugas Shrimpers Association met with elected officials in Tallahassee to urge the passage of a bill that would reopen areas of the Tortugas shrimp beds that had been closed for conservation.

1912 – The Monroe Theater at 623 Duval was screening the 1911 Irish feature “Arrah-na-pogue,” with admission at 10, 15 or 20 cents, based on seating.

1951 – A new concrete tennis court was opened at Key West’s Bayview Park, complementing two existing asphalt courts.

1959 – A simulated nuclear bomb drop was the central feature of Civil Defense exercises in Key West.

2010 – Owners of Key West’s Heritage House Museum announced it would close after the historic mid-19th century building at 410 Caroline St. was sold to Peter Brawn, who had been buying many of the island’s significant properties.

1930 – Andrew J. Page moved his store into a modern two-story concrete building he had built at 501 Duval Street, at the corner of Fleming, in Key West.

1930 – A statement was read at the Key West City Commission meeting advising any Greek sponge fishermen from Tarpon Springs to avoid moving their operations to Key West.

2010 – After having had the lowest census participation rate in Florida in 2000, Monroe County had the highest for 2010.

1970 – The USS Quillback (SS 525) was open to the public for tours at Naval Station Key West’s Pier 1.

1930 – After having explored a change in routes, the Mallory Steamship company announced that existing service would remain.

1958 – Billy Watkins Moody, serving a sentence in Monroe County Jail for larceny, admitted to having started multiple fires in Key West.

1975 – Robert “Speedy” Neal pitched a perfect game in a Little Major League contest at Key West’s Peter Dopp Field.

1970 – After 75 years of operation, the storm warning station at Lumley & Roberts Hardware Store was removed.

1949 – Fausto’s Food Palace, a new, “ultra-modern” store, opened at 522 Fleming Street.