1954 – Taxi drivers from two cab companies petitioned the Key West City Commission for exclusive rights to their traditional stand on Duval Street near Greene. They said outside drivers were moving in, which was creating crowding and a traffic hazard.

1963 – Entomologists were zeroing in a species of whitefly recently found on Stock Island as the spreader of a lethal yellowing virus that was destroying coconut palms. Since its first appearance in Key West in 1954, the disease had killed 80% of Lower Keys coconut trees.

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

1959 – A simulated nuclear bomb drop was the central feature of Civil Defense exercises in Key West.

1970 – The USS Quillback (SS 525) was open to the public for tours at Naval Station Key West’s Pier 1.

1949 – Fausto’s Food Palace, a new, “ultra-modern” store, opened at 522 Fleming Street.

1930 – The Lighthouse Service determined that small, battery-powered elecric light were a feasible replacement for those lit by gas.

1954 – The state Hotel Commission gave notice to the Island City House at 411 William Street that their license had been revoked.

1935 – The Federal Emergency Relief Administration’s strategy of reshaping Key West into a tourist destination was working.

1966 – The Lighthouse Military Museum opened in the former Key West lighthouse keeper’s quarters on Whitehead Street.

1935 – A resolution by aFlorida Congressman to designate Key West Naval base a winter station for submarines met opposition from the Navy.

Letters recently donated to the Florida Keys History Center illuminate a century-old Key West banking scandal.

1938 – After two years of discussion and planning, the Key West City Council passed an ordinance providing for zoning within city limits.

1955 – Mackerel and tarpon were running in Key West Harbor and dozens of fishermen were trying their luck from the Clyde-Mallory Dock.

1955 – The Key West Garden Club’s annual Flower Show opened at the East Martello Tower.

1964 – The Navy awarded a $1,967,209 contract to Bauer Dredging Company to deepen Key West’s main ship’s channel to 34 feet.

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

1924 – So many tourists were traveling between Key West and Havana that the steamship Governor Cobb had to make an extra trip.

1954 – After completing structural surveys, the Florida Road Department greenlighted 2,000 feet of fishing catwalks on bridges.

1960 – Students at Key West High School were dismissed for the day after a phone caller warned a bomb was set go off there at 2 p.m.