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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


February 27
1956 – The American Salvage Co. of New York was bringing up twisted steel remains and a cargo of ore from the freighter SS Edward Luckenbach, sunk just north of Key West. The 456-foot Luckenbach sank in 1942, when it inadvertently steamed into a WWII minefield.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 272 min read


February 9
1994 – The Florida Keys Tourist Development Council OK’d more than $1 million toward the renovation of Key West’s White Street Pier. The money would go to restoring water flow by cutting and bridging two sections of the 1,100-foot-long structure and making the pier fully pedestrian.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 92 min read


February 5
1946 – Fred Dion purchased the Stone Hotel at White and Division streets in Key West from Edward Gomez for $28,000. The building had stores on the first floor and hotel rooms and apartments on the second.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 52 min read


February 1
1960 – After the lack of a rear exit forced firemen to break through the roof of a burning Duval Street store to fight the blaze, Key West Fire Chief Charles Cremata was conducting “fine-tooth comb” inspections all buildings on Duval to ensure they had proper exits and fire escapes.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 12 min read


January 30
1911 – Curtiss Aircraft test pilot J.A.W. McCurdy attempted to fly from Key West to Havana but crashed in the water shortly before reaching Cuba. He was rescued by a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 302 min read
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