1961 – The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Key West officially organized as a congregation of the United Lutheran Church. The congregation had 70 adults and 46 children.

1962 – Astronaut John Glenn left Key West to join President Kennedy at Palm Beach. Glenn had spent a quiet weekend with his family at the Key West Naval Base so he could rest and undergo medical evaluation after his successful orbit around earth. Glenn was the first American to make such a flight.

1937 – Construction of the José Martí Monument in Bayview Park began when Raoul A. Pizer y Pollo, representing the government of Cuba, presented the structure’s cornerstone to Key West Mayor Harry C. Galey.

1908 – The first train fully equipped for carrying passengers over the Overseas Railroad left Miami for Knights Key at 11 a.m. The train, consisting of six coaches and Henry Flagler’s private car, was an official excursion and no tickets were sold for the journey.

1955 – The home of Angel Delgado at 1010 Washington Street was chosen as having the best display in the Key West Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas lighting contest. The home of Everett Hall at 3 Hibiscus Lane placed second.

1897 – Schooners leaving Key West were given warning shots by the U.S.S. Maine as a command for them to halt. The vessels were boarded by officers from the battleship and searched for arms and ammunition that might be used to illegally supply revolutionary forces in Cuba. None were found.

1888 – The construction contract for a new Key West Custom House on Front Street at Clinton Place was awarded. The structure would be completed at a cost of $107,955.96 and occupied in the later part of 1891.

1935 – Biologist Emory Lowe Pierce of the Key West Aquarium received notice that his proposal for a crawfish and stone crab hatchery had been approved by Washington. Pierce said that as soon as he could set up the equipment, the process of hatching the crustaceans would begin.

1924 – The cornerstone of the new St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Center Street in Key West was laid by the Reverend Cameron Mann, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Florida.

1937 – The Florida Keys Hurricane Monument on Upper Matecumbe Key was dedicated. The Monument was in memory of those who lost their lives in the Labor Day Storm of 1935, and the ashes of 23 of the victims were interred at the site.

1935 – The Commandant’s residence on the Naval Station in Key West was being refurbished and refurnished in readiness for occupancy by visitors from Washington. Among those anticipated to be staying in the residence was Marvin McIntyre, secretary to President Roosevelt.

1909 – Monroe County Deputy Sheriff B.W. Glisson arrived at Key West from Knight’s Key on the steamer Mascotte, with prisoners Manuel Moses, Nod Cornell, Elio McKinney, and E.E. Whalton. Glisson had arrested the men for selling whiskey without a license at the railroad work camps.

1960 – Poucher’s grocery store in Islamorada was purposefully destroyed by fire when, after days without power from Hurricane Donna, it was determined the rotting meats and vegetables inside were becoming a health hazard.

1985 – An early morning fire destroyed the Siboney Inn at the corner of Truman Avenue and Elizabeth Street in Key West, as well as an adjacent residence at 919 Elizabeth. Three firefighters were overcome by smoke while battling the large blaze.

1964 – The Monroe County Commission, in a secret meeting, approved plans to raze the 11-year-old county jail in Key West and replace it with a three-story structure housing a new jail and courtroom facilities.

1956 – The Church of God at 905 Grinnell Street in Key West celebrated the arrival of their new pastor, the Reverend G.W. Fletcher Philips.

1919 – The Key West Branch of the Afro-American Independent Insurance Co. held a luncheon reception for ministers of the city at Newman Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was richly decorated with flowers and potted plants, and “the entire affair was one of the greatest events of the season.” 

1974 – Fire destroyed the La Plaza grocery at 630 Fleming Street in Key West and an adjacent store and conch house at 628 and 624 Fleming. An Elizabeth Street home was damaged. The grocery building, across from the Key West Library, originally housed Pierce Bros. Hardware, established 75 years earlier.

1903 – The cornerstone was laid for the First Congregational Church on William Street. The ceremony was conducted by Reverend S.F. Gale, Home Missionary Superintendent for the Congregational Church of Florida.

1959 – Some 25 members of the Marathon-based Tortugas Shrimpers Association met with elected officials in Tallahassee to urge the passage of a bill that would reopen areas of the Tortugas shrimp beds that had been closed for conservation.