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.

1946 – A conceptual plan to use the airfield at Boca Chica for both Navy and civilian purposes was announced by Charles B. Donaldson, Civil Aeronautics Administration Director of Airports. A meeting of interested parties was scheduled for the end of the month to formalize an agreement.

1990 – The National Park Service wrote to Key West Mayor Tony Tarracino to express an interest in using the historic Wall & Co. Warehouse at Mallory Square as a visitor center and administrative headquarters for Fort Jefferson National Monument.

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.

1905 – An appropriation of nearly $500,000 was authorized for improvements at the Key West Naval Station, including new buildings, an extension of the coal sheds, and the construction of a quay wall from the sheds to Fort Taylor.

1976 – The General Services Administration announced it was declaring 40.47 waterfront acres of the “Harry Truman Annex” at the former Key West Naval Base as surplus property. The Little White House was exempted and was being withheld for later disposition because of its historic value.

1926 – Jumbo, a loggerhead sea turtle, celebrated his third birthday at the aquarium at the eastern end of Key West. Jumbo had been hatched in a sandbox onboard Peter Roberts’ fishing boat and then hand-raised alongside Roberts’ dock for two years, before being transferred to the aquarium because of his increasing size.

2011 – After much discussion over a development agreement, the Spottswood Cos. announced they would be redeveloping the Faro Blanco property in Marathon as a resort and marina. The resort would have 106 units, including 14 for workforce housing, and the marina would have 100 slips bayside and 100 slips oceanside.

1954 – Famed dancer Sally Rand was in trouble with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which ordered her two Key West properties to be sold to pay back taxes.

1983 – The $3.9 million sale of Key West’s Sands Beach Club to New York developer Austin Laber was completed. Laber revealed that he planned to demolish the three-year-old waterfront complex and build the Reach Hotel.

1931 – Key West golf champion Robert Spottswood and six-time Havana women’s champion Mabel Stanford played an exhibition match at the Key West course, with Spottswood emerging victorious. Sanford, who had lived in Key West as a child, said the course was one of the trickiest she had played.

2001 – County-owned Higgs Beach Park needed a $2 million renovation, prompting many to wonder whether Monroe County should hold and maintain a park that is entirely within the city of Key West. Monroe County Mayor George Neugent felt the money could be better spent on recreation facilities in unincorporated areas of the county.

1926 – The shipment of Cuban pineapples from Key West by train was stymied when 150 men who transferred the fruit from the steamships to the rails walked off the job, demanding 60 cents an hour instead of 50 cents. The pineapple season was at its peak, and 160 railcar loads had shipped the day before.

1980 – A task force of Key West business leaders was formed to combat the perception that Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift had overwhelmed the island. Merchants reported that business was down between 25 and 50 per cent compared to the previous year.

1971 – Florida Secretary of State Richard Stone announced that Fort Taylor and the Key West Armory had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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.

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1968 – National Air Lines made the first jet landing at Key West International Airport using a Boeing 727. The county had extended the runway and removed obstructions to make the airport usable for jets.

1946 – The Navy announced a delay in returning the Key West Aquarium to the city, as they wanted to make sure it was in the same condition as when received. The concern was in finding photographs of the WPA murals, so the artwork could be properly restored. The aquarium had been used as a rifle range during the war.

1926 – Key West society came out for the opening of the new Key West Country Club. The building was decorated with flags and flowers; draperies and chandeliers adorned the interior. Irene Reynolds and Miss R.T. Vertuen sang, and dancer Little Miss Hansen performed some “unusual steps.”