1898 – A correspondent wrote of Key West’s booming cigar business, “Our city is once more at the top of the ladder, and it behooves our...

1862 – A “distillery machine” brought from New York was employed at Fort Taylor to convert seawater to freshwater, and it was providing...

1898 – War prices ruled in Key West. A tall glass of soda cost 15 cents, lemonade 20 cents, and beer 25 cents. Drinking water, too, was...

1922 – Navy aircraft located the missing Aeromarine seaplane Santa Maria near Andros Island, Bahamas, in good condition with all...

1865 – To celebrate of the recent fall of the Confederate capital of Richmond, the ships of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key...

1924 – The price of Key Largo land was on the rise, with oceanfront lots sometimes exceeding $200 an acre. Many landowners, though, were...

1833 – Cholera was rampant at Key West, and people were fleeing the island. A correspondent wrote, “all the garrison except one officer...

1876 – The Lighthouse on Fort Jefferson was lighted. 1918 – Student aviator Thomas W. Eden was killed, and another student pilot, J.J....

1861 – Lt. T.A.M. Craven of the USS Crusader said of Key West, “Nearly all of the offices of this town are now filled by violent...

1898 – Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix, carrying the final report of the USS Maine Court of Inquiry, sailed on the steamer City of...

1858 – Sombrero Key Lighthouse was first lighted. 1865 – The Key West Literary Association honored Major Benjamin C. Lincoln, commander...

1906 – Navy coaling operations at Garden Key were transferred to Key West as the process of converting the Dry Tortugas facility to a...

1838 – Tomas Sachetti was elected Mayor of Key West. He was the candidate of a group of merchants opposed to occupational licenses that...

1898 – The Court of Inquiry investigating the loss of the Battleship Maine met in the Key West Custom House. 1923 – United Daughters...

1850 – The brig Isabella Reed , sailing from New Orleans to Savannah, ran aground on Conch Reef, but the captain refused assistance from...

1848 – The new Key West Lighthouse on Whitehead Street was lighted for the first time. The lighthouse was built to replace the one...

1848 – The Irish ship Mertoun , sailing from New Orleans to Liverpool, wrecked at Delta Shoal off Key Vaca with 1,400 bales of cotton,...

1884 – William M. Artrell of Key West, and the first principal of the island’s Douglass School, was elected Grand Worthy Chief Templar...

1835 – Dr. Henry S. Waterhouse, Postmaster at Indian Key, left in a canoe for a fishing excursion, accompanied by his son. Shortly after,...

1825 – Commodore David Porter sailed from Key West to the north coast of Cuba on the steamer Sea Gull on a cruise in search of pirates....