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...

1861 – Lt. T.A.M. Craven of the U.S. steamer Crusader issued a notice of blockade at Key West. It stipulated that no vessels would be...

1893 – A man named Andre Peniche was forced to leave Key West after suspicion grew that he was a Spanish spy. Cuban residents of the...

1861 – Major Wm. French, commanding officer at Key West, met with Mayor J.P. Baldwin to work toward defusing tensions between the...

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

1847 – The brig Planter of Belfast put into Key West, leaking “400 strokes per hour.” The leak first developed when Planter struck a...

1826 – A brig sailing from Havana to Boston wrecked near the Carysfort lightship and went to pieces. Part of its cargo of coffee and...

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...

1896 – The schooner Competitor of Key West was seized by the Spanish gunboat Mensagera near Havana, loaded with Mauser and Remington...

1898 – The Red Cross Society’s ship, State of Texas , with nurses and medicine arrived from New York. 1968 – National Air Lines made...

1898 – The Army took over the Cuban telegraph cable from Western Union. Telegraph Superintendent M.L. Hellings was commissioned as...

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

1832 – John J. Audubon arrived at Indian Key on the Revenue Cutter Marion . 1926 – Confederate Memorial Day was observed by the Stephen...

1886 – A fundraising effort in Cuba to aid those displaced by the great Key West fire totaled $3,550. There were 652 refugees from Key...

1833 – Dr. B.B. Strobel and D.C. Pinkham fought a duel in which Pinkham was shot in the chest and died. Strobel left for his former home...

1898 – The Navy was ordered to blockade the coast of Cuba. The USS Nashville about 12 miles south of Sand Key took the Spanish steamer...

1847 – The British ship Yucatan ran ashore on French Reef and bilged while carrying 1,200 bales of cotton, 800 barrels of flour, 300 of...

1865 – Word reached Key West that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to General U.S. Grant on April 9, virtually ending the Civil...

1832 – Ornithologist John James Audubon left from Charleston on board the Revenue Cutter Marion , bound for the Florida Keys. 1912 –...

1848 – At a meeting of the Key West Whigs, all were in support of Zachary Taylor. They also voted to approve Representative Edward C....