1926 – Eduardo H. Gato, Key West’s leading cigar manufacturer, died in Havana. He was born in Cuba in 1847 and came to Key West in 1874. His factory employed more than 500 workers. His last factory on Simonton Street still stands and is now used for Monroe County government offices.

1957 – Construction started on the Blue Lagoon Motel at the corner of Sigsbee Road and North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West.

2015 – After a year of construction, the new Vietnam Living Memorial in Key West’s Bayview Park was unveiled. Hundreds attended the event, many of them veterans, along with their families and supporters.

1955 – Admiral the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G., the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff for Great Britain, accompanied by U.S. Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Arleigh Burke, arrived in Key West for a demonstration cruise aboard the Navy’s cutting-edge submarine USS Albacore. 

2015 – Keys Energy offered the City of Key West its abandoned diesel generator plant, a three-building complex bounded by Angela, Fort, and Geraldine streets. City officials were pleased by the offer, but acceptance of the 100+-year-old “as is” property would ultimately be decided by voters.

1935 – The Commandant’s residence on the Naval Station in Key West was being refurbished and refurnished in readiness for occupancy by visitors from Washington. Among those anticipated to be staying in the residence was Marvin McIntyre, secretary to President Roosevelt.

2010 – After multiple chicken poisonings in Key West and Stock Island over previous days, Lower Keys wildlife organizations were worried about not only the brazenly illegal acts, but also the effects that poisoned feed and tainted carcasses would have on other animals.

1960 – Monroe County was second place in the state for the highest percentage of homes with television sets: Of 16,400 residences, 90 percent had TVs. Broward County led with 91 percent.

1975 – A team from Monroe County and the Historic Key West Preservation Board began a six-week project to remove dilapidated exterior additions at Old City Hall in Key West. The goal of the project was to strip the historic building down to its original configuration and rebuild the bell and clock tower.

1925 – Thomas Pinder was appointed caretaker of the Monroe County Courthouse grounds at Jackson Square in Key West. Pinder was to tend to the hundreds of recently planted shrubs and trees and stop attacks on them by boys who frequented the grounds.

1960 – Dredge and fill operations at Sigsbee Park (aka Dredgers Key) were completed, and the construction of 300 new housing units there would begin shortly.

1930 – Secretary of the Navy Charles F. Adams ordered the Naval Station at Key West to be placed in inoperative status no later than November 30. The closure was intended to save money as part of a broader “economy campaign” instituted by President Hoover.

1960 – Hurricane Donna passed over the Middle and Upper Keys with 150-mph winds, causing extensive damage: Over half of the structures from Marathon to Islamorada were destroyed; tides were 9 to 13.5 feet above normal; six highway bridges were severely damaged, and the water pipeline was wrecked in five places.

1940 – Wallace Kirke, director of the Key West Housing Authority, issued a call for bids on the construction of the J.Y. Porter Place and Fort Village housing projects. Porter Place was to be on Trumbo Island with 136 units. Fort Village, at Virginia and Fort streets, was to have 84 units for “colored” families of Key West.

1963 – Rear Admiral L.J. Kirn, Commander of Naval Station Key West, reported the Keys’ Navy population numbered 21,000, including military and dependents. In addition, the military employed 1,860 civilian workers.

1945 – A contract was renewed for Fred Howland, Inc. to complete the construction of 155 low-cost Navy housing units at the end of White Street across from Rest Beach in Key West.

1941 – Naval Station Key West was running low on water, as rain had been scant, and the cisterns were nearly dry. Two water tankers were brought from Miami to help fill demand, but rationing was likely if rain did not come.

1975 – Six hundred people were employed in manufacturing in Key West. A partial breakdown showed 23.7% in textile and clothing production; 21% in stone, clay, glass, and concrete products; 15.8% in printing and publishing; 8.3% in making durable goods; 3.5% in chemicals; and 3.2% in non-durable goods.

1952 – Key West Police Chief Bienvenido Perez claimed to be the last surviving man of the three who buried Elena Hoyos. Hoyos’ body had earlier been exhumed by an obsessed Karl Tanzler, who lived with her body for many years before being discovered. Perez said she was buried in an unmarked grave in the Key West Cemetery, and he would never reveal its location.

1962 – The House Appropriations Committee in Washington approved a $2,516,000 expenditure for a new bachelor officers’ quarters building to be located on the Trumbo Seaplane Base. The new facility would be centrally located and replace all existing BOQs on the base.