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,...

1901 – Mrs. William Curry, widow of the late millionaire, died at age 72. She was born at Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas. 1949 – General...

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

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...

1851 – Stephen R. Mallory of Key West was elected by the Florida Legislature as one of the U.S. Senators from Florida. 1929 – Ty Cobb,...

1822 – Mr. “Hemming” (Fleming) arrived from Mobile with workers and material to erect the first house on the island. 1831 – The French...

1829 – After nearly two weeks of effort, the ship Britannia was towed to Key West from where it had wrecked on Conch Reef. Jacob Housman...

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

1871 – The Santo Domingo Commission, including renowned African American statesman Frederick Douglass, arrived at Key West from Kingston...

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...

1854 – The U.S. Coast Survey steamer Corwin , under the command of Lt. T.A.M. Craven, left Key West for Cape Florida. The crew planned to...

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...

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

1797 – Three British ships from Nassau – Ranger , Primrose , and Elizabeth – were seized by Spanish privateers at Key West. The two...

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

1911 – The Riley Brothers Construction Company began work on the new Weather Station at Sand Key, seven miles southwest of Key West. 1921...

1861 – Key Wester and Confederate sympathizer Henry Mulrennan flew the flag of the Republic of Florida over his store, which he had...

1829 – During a gale, the British ship Britannia , carrying rum, sugar, coffee, pimento, fustic and hides from Jamaica, wrecked on Conch...