1956 – State Representative Bernie C. Papy announced that a contract had been let for the construction of catwalks along eight bridges on the Overseas Highway. The catwalks would get fishermen off the roadway and outside of the guard rails, eliminating a dangerous situation.

1936 – The Monroe County Commission moved to negotiate with the Florida East Coast Railway Company towards acquiring the railroad’s right-of-way through the Florida Keys. If successful, the County would then use the railroad’s right-of-way and bridges for the Overseas Highway.

1976 – Huddle Pontiac Buick of Key West became an authorized dealer of the electric Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar. The two-passenger vehicle had a 38-mph cruising speed and a maximum range of 50 miles, with a base price of $2,738.

1961 – The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Key West officially organized as a congregation of the United Lutheran Church. The congregation had 70 adults and 46 children.

1946 – Two hundred eighty automobiles were inspected by Key West City Mechanic Horace Averette, who tested their brakes, horns, and lights as mandated by city ordinance.

1963 – Rear Admiral Rhodam Y. McElroy, Commander of Key West Forces, was presented the Legion of Merit for his meritorious performance of duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1861 – Supplies and a detachment of 62 troops from the First U.S. Artillery were landed at Fort Taylor from the steamer Daniel Webster to reinforce Capt. John M. Brannan’s company. The Webster then steamed to the Dry Tortugas with additional men and six months of provisions for Fort Jefferson.

1936 – E.A Pynchon, administrator of the Works Progress Administration for Florida, visited Key West to confer with local officials and to assess the sewerage work being done by WPA crews.

1872 – A correspondent wrote of Key West, “At the wharves you see the ugly hulls of wrecked vessels, which were formerly the main objects of trade in Key West. But this gloomy business is falling off every day. The few years of ocean steam navigation is curtailing that of sailing vessels, and the wreckers complain of dull times.”

1912 – Keys political leader Wilhelmina Goehring Harvey was born at 1400 Petronia Street in Key West. She served on the Monroe County School Board and the Monroe County Commission, and she was the first woman to serve as Monroe County Mayor.

1946 – The submarine tender USS Howard W. Gilmore arrived in Key West. The big tender was the long-running flagship for the submarine squadron assigned to Key West.

1910 – All the concrete railroad piers had been completed from Knight’s Key to Pigeon Key, and half from there to Moser Channel. To aid the progress, the camp at West Summerland Key was to be closed and the workforce moved to Pigeon Key.

1998 – Islamorada resident and fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albright died at the age of 82. He pioneered the use of fly tackle for catching bonefish and tarpon.

1951 – Popular entertainment personality Arthur Godfrey broadcast his daily, nationwide CBS Radio show from Pigeon Key.

1938 – Toll receipts showed that 1,821 automobiles, carrying 3,632 passengers, had traveled the Florida Keys Overseas Highway over the Christmas weekend.

1940 – The Cuban-American fraternal order Orden de Caballeros de Martí began a three-day state convention at the Key West chapter’s lodge at 919 Elizabeth Street.

1930 - The Key West Woman’s Club, the Salvation Army, and the U.S. Army distributed 291 Christmas dinners to the poor of the city.

1935 – The Cortez Cigar Co. building on Ann Street in Key West was destroyed by fire. The first alarm sounded at 10 a.m. and all the city’s firefighters arrived to battle the blaze, but the flames spread too quickly to be contained. Chief Harry Baker thought the fire was set intentionally.

1985 – The new Seven Mile Bridge and the Long Key Bridge, both completed in 1982, were suffering from structural problems. Guardrails on the Seven Mile Bridge were spalling, and elements of the underside were deteriorating. Issues with the Long Key Bridge required that a model of it be built in Tallahassee so engineers could conduct stress tests.

1940 – Author Thelma Strabel moved into her new Key West home at 400 South Street by the Southernmost Point. Strabel wrote the novel “Reap The Wild Wind,” a story about island wreckers that was later made into a movie.