1825 – The U.S. schooner Shark arrived at Key West with Captain Lewis Warrington, who was relieving Commodore David Porter as commander...

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

1829 – The New York Enquirer reported that over 10,000 bushels of salt had been produced at the Key West salt ponds over the previous...

1827 – Former U.S. Navy Commodore David Porter, now commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy, brought the frigate Liberator , the brig...

1836 – Key West experienced “the coldest night ever known” when the temperature dropped to 44 degrees. 1839 – Mail service to Key West...

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

1826 – A writer at Key West noted, “The materials for the Light House at the Dry Tortugas are all landed there, and the workmen will...

1823 – The first and second mates and two crew of the brig Antelope of Providence, RI, deserted at the Florida Reef. They took the...

1863 – Key West received official notification of the Emancipation Proclamation. To their great joy, all enslaved people on the island...

1844 – The brig Bertrand , sailing from Portland, ME, to Mobile with a cargo of hay and potatoes, wrecked on the rocks near Sand Key....

1853 – U.S. Vice-President William R. King arrived at Key West on the steamer Fulton with hope of recuperating from illness in the...

1833 – A correspondent from Key West wrote, “Disease has attacked us here very severely. Six U.S. soldiers have died lately. One will be...

1890 – The schooner Competitor , with a crew of 11, returned from a five-week voyage to the sponge beds with 1,375 bunches. Their haul...

1900 – Jacob McCleary, who worked on the Big Pine Key farm of Whitmore Pinder, shot and killed James Straun. For some time, Straun had...

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

1835 – An intense, 10-minute squall struck Key West from the northwest, “with greater force than had been felt here for many years.” A...

1824 – An unlit beacon, 49 feet high, was erected on “Porpoise Island” (Sand Key) to warn mariners of the reef. 1892 – The Electric...

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....

1836 – Key West Collector of Customs and Superintendent of Lights Wm. A. Whitehead issued the following notice: “In consequence of the...

1826 – The first Key West lighthouse, located at the southwestern end of the island, was lit for the first time. Keeper Michael Mabrity,...