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July 18
2006 – The City of Key West approved developer Pritam Singh’s plan to transform the Hampton Inn on North Roosevelt Boulevard into 74 “Keys-style” condominiums that owners could rent to tourists as de facto hotel rooms. The units would not be eligible for homestead status.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 172 min read


July 11
1980 – The Monroe County Advertising Commission allocated an additional $10,000 from its budget for advertising in South Florida to help turn around tourism losses resulting from damaging press about the Mariel Boatlift.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 102 min read


July 10
1956 – The Monroe County School District had hired 70 new teachers for the upcoming school year, but with a shortage of housing in the area, the Chamber of Commerce put out a call for any available apartments, houses, or rooms to accommodate the new instructors.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 92 min read


July 5
1990 – The National Park Service wrote to Key West Mayor Tony Tarracino to express an interest in using the historic Wall & Co. Warehouse at Mallory Square as a visitor center and administrative headquarters for Fort Jefferson National Monument.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 42 min read


July 3
1904 – Mrs. Clarence K. Till, widow of police officer Till, was presented with a deed to a house and lot bought by the citizens of Key West after her husband was killed in the line of duty.

Florida Keys History Center
Jul 22 min read


June 2
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Jun 12 min read


May 20
1956 – Cuban Treasurer General Plutarco Villalobo Marquez presented a marble bust of José Martí to the Key West Art & Historical Society. Mayor C.B. Harvey thanked the Cuban government in both English and Spanish for the gesture of friendship.

Florida Keys History Center
May 192 min read


May 14
1980 – A task force of Key West business leaders was formed to combat the perception that Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift had overwhelmed the island. Merchants reported that business was down between 25 and 50 per cent compared to the previous year.

Florida Keys History Center
May 132 min read


May 11
1971 – Florida Secretary of State Richard Stone announced that Fort Taylor and the Key West Armory had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Florida Keys History Center
May 101 min read


April 10
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 92 min read


April 4
1982 – Suwa, a male dolphin owned by Little Torch Key resident Betty Brothers and kept on her property, attacked a man after he entered the private lagoon to swim with the creature. Suwa rammed the man six times, causing severe liver lacerations and the rupture of a “major” vein in his stomach.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 32 min read


February 6
1974 – The Key West Armory building on White Street, newly restored by the Key West Historic Preservation Board, was re-opened. The building was available for rent for $50 per occasion.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 62 min read


February 5
1946 – Fred Dion purchased the Stone Hotel at White and Division streets in Key West from Edward Gomez for $28,000. The building had stores on the first floor and hotel rooms and apartments on the second.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 52 min read


January 31
1926 – The Key West Realty Board heard a proposal by Hilliard Hammerschlag for a sight-seeing bus to be operated from Trumbo Island to points throughout Key West. Hammerschlag said between 200 to 600 visitors were arriving via train and steamer daily, and the proposition would be a profitable one.

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 312 min read


January 24
1941 – Key West police were investigating the possible poisoning of two Key West women at a Duval Street bar after one drank a soft drink and the other a beer: both then becoming violently ill. Samples from the women’s stomachs were taken at the Marine Hospital for analysis. No results were reported.

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 241 min read


January 7
1964 – The Florida cabinet authorized the construction of missile sites by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Boca Chica and Fleming keys. The permanent sites would be used as part of the line of defense against Cuba..

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 72 min read


December 29
1938 – Toll receipts showed that 1,821 automobiles, carrying 3,632 passengers, had traveled the Florida Keys Overseas Highway over the Christmas weekend.

Florida Keys History Center
Dec 29, 20251 min read


December 28
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Dec 28, 20252 min read


December 27
1935 – Despite the air temperature being a chilly 52 degrees, visitors from the north enjoyed swimming in the waters off Key West’s Rest Beach.

Florida Keys History Center
Dec 27, 20252 min read


December 19
1985 – The 297-foot ocean freighter Eagle was sunk as an artificial reef in 100 feet of water off Islamorada. The project was sponsored by the Florida Keys Artificial Reef Association and the Keys Association of Dive Operators.

Florida Keys History Center
Dec 19, 20252 min read
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