1836 – Feilding A. Browne was elected mayor of Key West. 1886 – Still reeling from the devastating March 30 fire, the Relief Committee...

1886 – At 10 o’clock in the morning, a fire started near the San Carlos Theater in Key West. Over the next 12 hours, it consumed over 50...

1906 – After 14 days of testing the DeForest wireless telegraph was accepted by the Navy. The stations in the system were at Key West,...

1513 – Ponce de Leon sighted the Florida Keys and becomes the first European to land in Florida. 1861 – Maj. William H. French arrived...

May Sands school teacher (1885-1956). Photo gift of Don Lowe. 1923 –A fire began in the unoccupied cigar factory at the corner of White...

1856 – The sounds of artillery fired at Havana were heard throughout Key West. A witness elaborated on the phenomenon, “It is not the...

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

1869 – One hundred and thirty-seven Cuban refugees fleeing Spanish oppression arrived at Key West, with more expected. “The city is...

1836 – The Key West Enquirer reported that 200 refugees from mainland south Florida and the Upper Keys were at Indian Key and Key West...

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

1826 – The ship Ellen , sailing from Havana to Philadelphia, went ashore on Carysfort Reef. Wreckers saved the dismasted vessel and...

1916 – Wealthy U.S. industrialist Andrew Carnegie, accompanied by his wife and friends, was on the houseboat Everglades out of Marathon...

1857 – The wrecking schooner Florida , while loading cotton from a ship ashore at Caesar’s Creek, was burned to the waterline. While the...

1864 – Key West’s freedmen marked the first anniversary of emancipation with a celebration at the Baptist Church. U.S. District Judge...

1839 – The barque Mary Ballard , sailing from Boston to New Orleans with a cargo of ice and salt fish, wrecked on Carysfort Reef. The...

1862 – Col. Tilghman H. Good of the U.S. Army recognized the legality of Key West’s recent elections and directed that civil authority...

1922 – Twenty-five aliens were arrested at Marathon for trying to enter the country illegally. The party – one Greek, four Chinese, and...

1832 – The Jackson Hotel at Key West was destroyed by fire, an uninsured loss of $7,000. Residents feared the Custom House, and even the...

1790 – Captain Commander of the Bahamian schooner Surprise discovered the wreck of a Spanish vessel a little northward of Key Largo. He...

1840 – President Martin Van Buren recognized Fielding A. Browne as Vice Consul to Spain for Key West. 1906 – During 48 hours over nine...