1905 – Three hundred men were working on Key Largo to build the railroad bed for the Florida East Coast’s Overseas Railway, and five miles had been graded on the island to that date. Another crew was making soundings and drilling bore holes at Knights Key to determine the best foundation to cross it.

1925 – A freight train derailed at Marathon. A wrecking crew from Key West was dispatched immediately after receiving the news, but clearing the tracks delayed the arrival of the passenger train from morning to afternoon.

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.

1907 – The Excavator No.1 boat was blown up and destroyed by a gasoline explosion while employed on the Florida East Coat Railroad extension. Capt. Benjamin Peacon and Sonny Parks of Key West were severely burned and brought to the island for treatment.

1959 – The Navy announced it was building a new target area and observation towers at the Marquesas Keys as part of a “high altitude live bombing range.” The target would be placed two and one-eighth miles west of the islands, with the towers erected onshore. No damage to natural resources was expected.

1936 – The Florida East Coast Railway company inquired to the Mallory Steamship Lines about moving 26,500 tons of rails, ties, and equipment, indicating it was preparing to remove the tracks of the Oversea Railroad.

1975 – The cruise ship Pacific Princess made its third visit to Key West in a month. Greeters presented hibiscus flowers to lady passengers as they disembarked, and tea towels from Key West Hand Print Fabrics were given to all passengers.

1962 – Florida State Road Department surveyors were in Key West to examine the site for a proposed causeway to cross Garrison Bight. The span, to be built on fill from deepening the bight, would start between First and Fifth Streets on one end and join Palm Avenue at the intersection of Eisenhower Drive on the other.

1975 – The City of Key West was awarded a federal grant of $201,000 for its “Downtown ’76” restoration and redevelopment project. The funds would be used to make improvements along Duval Street in time for the nation’s Bicentennial observance.

Many people were traveling by train from Miami to Knights Key “solely for the novelty of the ride over the sea by rail.”

1924 – The first batch of concrete for the walls of the San Carlos Opera House was poured.

1935 – An excursion to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas was offered to up to 16 passengers on the Commodore seaplane.

1912 – Key West continued to celebrate the completion of the railroad. At 11 a.m. a parade marched down Duval Street.

2004 – The City of Key West hired Armando Parra as official chicken catcher to try to control the island’s free-ranging chicken population.

1880 – Former U.S. President and Army General Ulysses S. Grant visited Key West.

1912 – “Opening the Over Sea Railway to Key West” was the cover story of Collier’s National Weekly Magazine.

1940 – The East Martello Tower was opened to tourists. Boys employed by the National Youth Administration served as guides.

1975 – Spurred by recent national press coverage, local interest was renewed in the Japanese “Midget C” submarine displayed in Key West.