1924 – A contest to name the new hotel being built at the corner of Duval and Fleming streets in Key West was drawing many entries. Some of the suggestions: Hotel Aubuchon, The Miramar, Trail’s End, Juan Salas, La Concha, Hotel Mariposa, The Palms Inn, La Mascota, and the Dolphin.

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.

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.

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.

1946 – The Johnson homestead at the corner of Duval and Eaton streets in Key West sold for $9,000. The property had a frontage of 130 feet on Duval and 134 feet on Eaton. It had been in the Johnson family for more than 75 years.

1855 – Ellen Mallory, a Key West resident since 1822, died on the island at the age of 64. After her husband died in 1825, leaving her alone with two young sons, she opened the island’s first boarding house, which she then ran for many years. Mallory “possessed an extraordinary fund of good sense, wit, and humor, which ever made her an agreeable companion,” said her obituary.

1989 – The Key West Economic Review Committee proposed that a 25-cent fee be charged to every person watching the sunset from Mallory Square, which would generate nearly $100,000 annually.

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.

1947 – Jack Dietz announced that a contract for $62,900 had been let to build the 28-room Blue Marlin Motel on Simonton Street in Key West.

2019 – A large majority – 69% – of Key West voters said “Yes” to the city’s purchase of the Key West Citizen building on Northside Drive. The city hoped to house its Community Services department there.

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.

1986 – Construction began on a project to widen U.S. 1 in Marathon from two lanes to four lanes from 37th to 107th Streets. Work was expected to be completed in late 1987.

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.

1940 – Capt. Walter F. Jacobs, Commander of the Key West Naval Station, turned the first shovel full of dirt to begin construction of the new Naval Air Station at Trumbo Point. The Ivy H. Smith Company of Jacksonville would build the hangar and other structures.

1941 – A team of FBI agents raided the “Alice Reid House” at 1016 Howe Street in Key West and arrested Reid and her husband, a bartender, and an unnamed soldier on prostitution-related charges. The house was reputed to be a brothel, and a woman had been strangled there a month earlier.

2006 – Prompted by blows from Hurricane Wilma and changing Medicare rules, the owners of Dennis Pharmacy at 1229 Simonton St. in Key West announced they were leasing the building to Marine Bank. The pharmacy would be consolidated with another branch, but the business’ popular diner needed a new home.

1946 – Key West City Manager Dave King explained the reasons for recent bar raids on the island: The serving of alcohol past midnight; minors working and drinking in the bars; and fights and the use of profane language by patrons.

2006 – The Friends of Fort Taylor launched a membership drive to call attention to the plight of the aging 19th century Key West fortification, which had suffered considerable damage months earlier during Hurricane Wilma.

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.

1912 – Henry Flagler arrived on the first train from the mainland to Key West, officially opening the Overseas Extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Mr. Flagler was welcomed to Key West by Mayor J.N. Fogarty, distinguished guests, and probably the largest crowd to ever have gathered on the island.