1843 – The Key West wrecking schooner Rome found floating barrels of pork and lard near Key Vaca, and between there and Bahia Honda it...

1869 – One hundred and thirty-seven Cuban refugees fleeing Spanish oppression arrived at Key West. 1885 – The 1885 Florida State Census...

1908 – Rodef Shalom Synagogue on the corner of Southard and Simonton Streets was dedicated. 1923 – A large catch of 20,000 pounds of...

1898 – The U.S. Battleship Maine was destroyed by an explosion in Havana Harbor. 1925 – John Phillip Sousa, the famous march king,...

1823 – Capt. Daniel Patterson of the US Navy arrived at Key West to begin a formal survey of the island and its harbor. Patterson was...

1828 – David H. Porter, Commanding Officer of the Mexican Navy Ship Guerrero , while sailing to Key West to join his uncle Commodore...

1891 – William Tuttar of Key Largo was bitten by a “monster rattlesnake, with 17 rattles and a button.” He killed the reptile, and “by...

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

1763 – Florida came under British control. The last of the indigenous people of the Florida Keys left for Havana with the Spanish. 1931 ...

1829 – A duel was fought between Charles E. Hawkins, of the Mexican Navy and William Allison McRea, U.S. Attorney for the Southern...

1923 – Orator and former Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan arrived at Key West by train and was to present at the Strand Theater...

1858 – During the night, 12 enslaved Key Westers escaped from the island by stealing the Sand Key lighthouse boat. It was thought they...

1917 – Polk’s Key West City Directory for 1917/18 listed 16 Coffee Shops in the city. 1954 – James Silver of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...

1744 – The HMS Looe struck on the Florida Keys reef that now bears its name. Capt. Utting, the ship’s commander, saw that there was no...

1830 – The sloop USS Florida , under Lieut. Josiah Tattnall, sailed from Key West, bound for Washington, DC. The Key West Register ...

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

1908 – The schooner Magic , a former America’s Cup race winner, was raised and towed into Key West harbor by owner John Lowe. The...

1830 – Dr. James Watson of New York listed the causes of the 11 deaths that occurred during his stay at Key West from Sept. 6 to Oct....

1887 – The population of Key West was reported to be 17,000. 1900 – The Florida sponge fishery reached a peak when 189,661 kg of sponges...

1901 – The schooners Lilly White and Dr. Lykes were seized at Key West by the revenue cutter McClane. The vessels, bound from Havana,...