1964 – The Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to support construction of a road from mainland Florida to Big Pine Key. The group planned to enact a “sales program” to encourage support for the idea in other parts of the county, especially the Upper Keys where many business owners opposed the plan.

1939 – Naval Station Key West was formally reopened after having been under caretaker status. To celebrate, factory whistles, church bells, and sirens were sounded across town for 10 minutes. A parade then went down Duval Street, followed by a dance.

1950 – A crowd of a thousand Key Westers lined the streets to view a Halloween parade composed of 500 costumed school children.

1907 – Key West was grappling with whether to prohibit alcohol or not, and 5,000 residents attended debates at Jackson Square to listen to speakers advocate for both sides of the issue.

1946 – Residents in the 2500 block of Seidenberg Avenue in Key West complained about multiple loud explosions in the neighborhood that were coming from dynamiting by Charles Toppino & Sons, who were filling low-lying lots in the area. The city gave the company three weeks to complete the project.

1956 – Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies and the Florida Highway Patrol were cracking down on speeders along the Overseas Highway. Of particular concern was an increase in accidents by vehicles that came upon Mosquito Control spray trucks too quickly, and drivers who fell asleep at the wheel.

1926 – The Monroe County Board of Public Instruction opened the bidding process for the construction of a kindergarten building at the corner of South and Reynolds streets and a high school annex at White and Seminary streets. Both projects had been long needed in Key West.

1951 – The Key West Police Department announced the start of a drive to rid bars of underage customers. The task was made difficult because over 2,000 Navy men in the area were under 21, but police said the crackdown would affect all minors, whether they were in uniform or not.

1966 – The Key West Yacht Club opened its new marina with 48 berths for vessels up to 70 feet, a fuel dock, 110- and 220-volt electricity, and a blacktop road leading to the docks from North Roosevelt Boulevard.

1904 – Mrs. Clarence K. Till, widow of police officer Till, was presented with a deed to a house and lot bought by the citizens of Key West after her husband was killed in the line of duty.

1906 – Work commenced on the new Triumph Coffee Mill building on a lot behind the Pohalski Cigar Factory. The corrugated iron structure was expected to take three weeks to complete.

1956 – The members of the First Baptist Church in Key West voted to build a new church building at their property on the corner of Eaton and Bahama streets, after the previous structure had been destroyed by fire a month earlier.

1926 – Two men attempted to break into the Key West Custom House by drilling a 12-inch diameter hole through the basement wall, hoping to access the area where seized liquor, jewelry, cigars, narcotics, and other valuables were kept. A night watchman encountered the men and fired shots at them, but they escaped via the waterfront.

1912 – The new Monroe Theater at 623 Duval was screening the 1911 Irish feature “Arrah-na-pogue,” with admission at 10, 15 or 20 cents based on seating. The Airdome at 509 Duval Street in Key West was showing the 1903 film “The Great Train Robbery.” Admission was 10 cents for unlimited viewing.

1995 – The City of Key West and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation were evaluating plans to replace the chain link fence surrounding the Key West Cemetery with a historic-looking fence resembling wrought-iron. One estimate priced the project at $238,000.

1946 – The Walter R. Mickens Post No. 6021 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, under commander Alphonso Dean, received its charter.

1956 – The American Salvage Co. of New York was bringing up twisted steel remains and a cargo of ore from the freighter SS Edward Luckenbach, sunk just north of Key West. The 456-foot Luckenbach sank in 1942, when it inadvertently steamed into a WWII minefield.

1936 – E.A Pynchon, administrator of the Works Progress Administration for Florida, visited Key West to confer with local officials and to assess the sewerage work being done by WPA crews.

1956 – A Navy ZPG-2 blimp malfunctioned shortly after take-off at Boca Chica Naval Air Station and crashed, taking out 1,800 feet of power lines and damaging the road. All crewmen were OK, suffering only bumps and bruises.

1926 – Richmond Pearson Hobson, a retired Navy admiral, former U.S. Congressman, and leading proponent of Prohibition, delivered an address titled “The Crisis” at Old Stone Methodist Church in Key West. Hobson’s visit to the island was sponsored by the Anti-Saloon League.