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September 7
1946 – Marathon was growing rapidly: Tourist accommodations were fully booked for the upcoming season, and “draglines, graders, rollers, bulldozers, and trucks were busy clearing ground for further development.”

Florida Keys History Center
5 days ago1 min read


August 26
1936 – To generate funds for maintenance, the Key West Aquarium began charging an admission fee. The price of entry was 15 cents for adults and five cents for children.

Florida Keys History Center
Aug 251 min read


August 18
1954 – Dr. Enrique Rodriguez, an 87-year-old retired physician who had practiced medicine in Key West for 55 years, estimated he had delivered almost 10,000 babies in the city. At one time he was the island’s only delivery doctor.

Florida Keys History Center
Aug 171 min read


August 14
1988 – Pritam Singh held a ground-breaking ceremony to begin construction on the ambitious redevelopment of Truman Annex in Key West.

Florida Keys History Center
Aug 132 min read


August 12
1923 – Monroe County commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of a $300,000 bond issue as a first step toward construction of a proposed “Overseas Highway” to run from the mainland to Key West.

Florida Keys History Center
Aug 112 min read


July 25
1986 – Monroe County Commissioners voted to open the county’s three landfill sites once a month with no disposal fees. The move was prompted by the increased dumping of garbage and junk in empty lots throughout the Keys.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 242 min read


July 18
2006 – The City of Key West approved developer Pritam Singh’s plan to transform the Hampton Inn on North Roosevelt Boulevard into 74 “Keys-style” condominiums that owners could rent to tourists as de facto hotel rooms. The units would not be eligible for homestead status.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 172 min read


July 11
1980 – The Monroe County Advertising Commission allocated an additional $10,000 from its budget for advertising in South Florida to help turn around tourism losses resulting from damaging press about the Mariel Boatlift.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 102 min read


June 17
1946 – The Marathon Chamber of Commerce said the community had grown to the point that the establishment of banking facilities was essential, and the group was starting a movement to establish a bank there.

Florida Keys History Center
Jun 162 min read


June 3
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Jun 22 min read


June 2
1991 – The 83-foot Greenpeace ship Moby Dick was repairing and replacing mooring buoys in the Marathon Marine Sanctuary, which encompassed all waters three miles out from Fat Deer Key to the Seven Mile Bridge. The mooring buoys had been originally installed in 1989, when Monroe County created the marine park.

Florida Keys History Center
Jun 12 min read


May 31
1958 – Boog Powell was the leading hitter for the Key West High School varsity baseball team. Across the ’58 season, Powell had 27 hits in 64 at bats for a .415 average, along with 21 RBIs.

Florida Keys History Center
May 302 min read


May 29
1962 – A team from the Florida Road Department was in Key West to survey for the possibility of constructing a bridge across Garrison Bight. The proposed bridge, running from somewhere between First and Fifth Streets and connecting to Palm Avenue, would ease traffic congestion and provide a base for a new marina.

Florida Keys History Center
May 282 min read


May 23
1991 – Scotty's Builders Supply held a grand opening for its new store at 2811 North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West.

Florida Keys History Center
May 222 min read


May 9
1956 – The members of the First Baptist Church in Key West voted to build a new church building at their property on the corner of Eaton and Bahama streets, after the previous structure had been destroyed by fire a month earlier.

Florida Keys History Center
May 82 min read


April 11
2010 – After a five-year effort by multiple government agencies to clear the area of illegal dwellings and derelict boats, the makeshift fishing village stretching alongside the road near Card Sound Bridge was largely gone.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 102 min read


April 10
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 92 min read


April 6
1943 – The USO Club at 303 Duval Street in Key West was dedicated. The Club, located in the old Caroline Lowe House, was operated by the Women’s Division of the National Catholic Community.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 52 min read


March 19
1976 – A new cupola for a community clock was placed atop the restored tower at Key West’s Old City Hall on Greene St. The design was faithful to the building’s original 1892 construction.

Florida Keys History Center
Mar 182 min read


March 13
1956 – Monroe County Juvenile Court Judge Eva Warner Gibson called attention to an alarming increase in cases of juvenile delinquency. In an average year, she would sentence six to nine offenders to State industrial Schools. But in January and February of 1956, six had already been sentenced – a trend that could see 36 Monroe youth sent to State Schools.

Florida Keys History Center
Mar 122 min read
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