1924 – A hunting party from Key West reported that deer were plentiful on Big Pine Key, though they were difficult to shoot. One herd of deer was observed swimming from Doctor’s Arm to No Name Key; others were thought to range as far west as Boca Chica Key.

1960 – Florida Governor LeRoy Collins dedicated and christened John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the first wholly underwater park in the world. A crowd of over 1,000 attended the ceremony at Harry Harris Oceanfront Park near Tavernier.

1996 – Key West native and aviation pioneer Steven F. Whalton died on his 96th birthday. He was the third employee of Pan American World Airways.

1993 – Renowned author James Leo Herlihy died in California. Herlihy had lived in Key West from 1956 to 1972 and was an integral part of the island’s then-burgeoning literary community. Two of his best-known books, both made into movies, were “Midnight Cowboy” and “All Fall Down.”

1865 – Dr. Samuel Mudd, Edward Spangler, Michael O'Laughlen, and Samuel Arnold – all convicted as conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln – arrived at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas to serve their prison terms. They joined 552 other prisoners being held there.

1935 – The Key West Tree Guild was organized, with Wallace B. Kirke as president. The guild’s mission was “to provide a medium through which tree lovers can work and help in developing shade trees on the island.”

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.

1962 – Rudy’s Bar was at 124 Duval Street, occupying the former Key West Custom House building, which had been moved to the location in 1891.

1974 – Fire destroyed the La Plaza grocery at 630 Fleming Street in Key West and an adjacent store and conch house at 628 and 624 Fleming. An Elizabeth Street home was damaged. The grocery building, across from the Key West Library, originally housed Pierce Bros. Hardware, established 75 years earlier.

1961 – Key West marine salvager Chet Alexander recovered a large, coral-encrusted anchor from an old wooden shipwreck found between the Sand Key Lighthouse and the reef. Alexander suspected the vessel was caught in a hurricane when it went down.

1960 – Monroe County commissioners ordered staff to develop regulations for the development of new Keys subdivisions. Commissioner A. Maitland Adams noted, “Subdivision developers are providing only one foot of elevation in many cases; miles of canals are being dug without regard to general development.”

1957 – The Key West Citizen’s “newsboys,” or newspaper delivery carriers, were competing for a series of prizes. The awards would be determined by carriers’ prompt payment of bills, their acquisition of new customers, and existing customer evaluations.

1946 – The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department held a public demolition of recently-seized slot machines at the courthouse in Key West. The illegal gambling devices had been taken from Weaver’s Tourist Camp on Stock Island and Eddie’s Fish Basket on Sugarloaf Key. 

1959 – Rear Admiral Francis D. McCorkle, Commanding Officer of Naval Station Key West, was unanimously chosen to be Grand Marshal for the island’s annual Armed Forces Day parade. The popular McCorkle, a highly decorated war hero, was considered an “adopted son” by Key Westers.

1961 – ABC Television aired an episode of the series “Expedition” featuring Marathon and the Middle Keys, with a focus on the area’s recovery from Hurricane Donna.

1860 – The U.S. Navy steamer Mohawk brought the captured slave ship Wildfire into Key West Harbor. The Wildfire had 510 Africans on board – people taken from the Congo River region and intended to be sold into slavery in Cuba. The Wildfire was in violation of U.S. and international law, and the Navy had been searching for such lawbreakers.

1963 – Entomologists were zeroing in a species of whitefly recently found on Stock Island as the spreader of a lethal yellowing virus that was destroying coconut palms. Since its first appearance in Key West in 1954, the disease had killed 80% of Lower Keys coconut trees.

1982 – The last span of the new Seven Mile Bridge was put into place.

1956 – Monroe County Commissioner Harry Harris announced that plans for U.S. 1 to bypass Boca Chica Naval Air Station were sent to the Florida Road Department for final approval. At the time, the highway cut through the air station, which was creating problems for both the Navy and civilians. The new bypass would skirt around the base on the Gulf side.

1943 – The Pirate’s Cove Fishing Lodge, along Bow Channel on Sugarloaf Key, was turned over to the Coast Guard. Work started immediately to convert the buildings into barracks for the Guardsmen who would be protecting Keys waters.