1986 – An 18½-foot, five-ton steel sculpture of a conch shell was installed at the entrance to Key West High School. The massive artwork was created by the school’s welding teacher George Carey and his 36 students. Dubbed the “largest conch shell in the world,” it took eight months to complete.

1936 – Norberg Thompson’s Overseas Transportation Company was awarded a contract to truck mail to and from Key West on an everyday basis, providing the island with daily mail service.

1956 – Max Marmorstein sold the Casa Marina Hotel for $800,000 to businessman Beale Poste of Granville, Ohio. Marmorstein had owned the luxury hotel since 1950.

1898 – The steamer Olivette arrived at Key West with 45 survivors of the U.S. Battleship Maine, which had exploded in Havana Harbor. The wounded were received at the Marine Hospital. 

1924 – Key West’s Stephen R. Mallory Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, unveiled a monument in Bayview Park dedicated to those who served in the Confederate Army and Navy.

1949 – The Key West City Commission granted a lease to the Key West Charter Boatmen’s Association for a portion of Garrison Bight facing North Roosevelt Boulevard.

1891 – José Martí, the leading Cuban independence advocate, arrived at Key West from Tampa for his first visit to the island. He rallied Key West’s Cuban exile community to support the overthrow of Spanish rule over their island nation.

1985 – The new Seven Mile Bridge and the Long Key Bridge, both completed in 1982, were suffering from structural problems. Guardrails on the Seven Mile Bridge were spalling, and elements of the underside were deteriorating. Issues with the Long Key Bridge required that a model of it be built in Tallahassee so engineers could conduct stress tests. 

2015 – After a year of construction, the new Vietnam Living Memorial in Key West’s Bayview Park was unveiled. Hundreds attended the event, many of them veterans, along with their families and supporters.

1975 – According to a count by Hank Kokenzie, Director of Veterans Affairs for Monroe County, there were approximately 12,000 U.S. military veterans residing in the Keys.

1951 – The City Planning Board approved a zoning change for Dairy Queen to build an ice cream store on United Street near White Street.

1956 – James A. Portier of 110 Olivia Street in Key West returned home after playing his third season with the Negro League’s Indianapolis Clowns. Portier was a member of the league’s East-West All Stars, and he hoped to try out with the Kansas City A’s organization.

2008 – The dilapidated, Depression-era bandstand at Bayview Park in Key West was torn down. The bandstand had once been a community hub and the site of concerts, political rallies, and high school graduations.

2000 – The Florida Department of Community Affairs awarded Key West an additional 54 units of affordable housing under the Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) because the city had preserved the Berg property, an unaltered beachfront area and home to many species of indigenous Keys plants and animals.

1951 – A new concrete tennis court was opened at Key West’s Bayview Park, complementing two existing asphalt courts.

1852 – The Carysfort Reef Lighthouse was lighted and began operation.

1940 – Key Wester William W. Demeritt was commissioned a Captain in the Coast Guard.