1926 – The War Department awarded a contract to the Over Sea Co. to construct a new causeway to Fort Taylor. The new land bridge was expected to give easier access to the old fort, making it more attractive to the many visitors to the island.

1941 – Joe “Sloppy Joe” Russell, famed Key West bar operator, was stricken with a sudden illness while visiting his friend Ernest Hemingway in Cuba and died in a Havana hospital at age 51.