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June 5
1905 – The Island City Bank was organized in Key West, and the following officers were elected: George S. Waite, president; C.R. Pierce, vice president; and E.M. Martin, cashier. The board of directors were: T.A. Sweeting, J.M. Phipps, J.T. Sawyer, and Richard Peacon.

Florida Keys History Center
Jun 42 min read


May 30
1931 – Key West golf champion Robert Spottswood and six-time Havana women’s champion Mabel Stanford played an exhibition match at the Key West course, with Spottswood emerging victorious. Sanford, who had lived in Key West as a child, said the course was one of the trickiest she had played.

Florida Keys History Center
May 292 min read


Vol. 23 - The 1823 Survey of Key West, Florida, by Captain Daniel T. Patterson, USN
A U.S. Navy officer's survey, assessment and weather records from Key West in 1823 provide some of the earliest accounts of the island.

Florida Keys History Center
May 2612 min read


May 10
1956 – Two Key West political candidates who recently lost their elections were given a demonstration by a representative of the Automatic Voting Machine Company to show how votes recorded by the tallying devices could not be altered without detection.

Florida Keys History Center
May 92 min read


April 27
1976 – The Monroe County Courthouse in Key West was being renovated for the upcoming national Bicentennial celebration. Among the improvements were new flooring and new interior paint. A 20-by-8-foot mural depicting the history of the Keys was also being rendered by artist Paul Stevens.

Florida Keys History Center
Apr 272 min read


March 13
1956 – Monroe County Juvenile Court Judge Eva Warner Gibson called attention to an alarming increase in cases of juvenile delinquency. In an average year, she would sentence six to nine offenders to State industrial Schools. But in January and February of 1956, six had already been sentenced – a trend that could see 36 Monroe youth sent to State Schools.

Florida Keys History Center
Mar 122 min read


February 9
1994 – The Florida Keys Tourist Development Council OK’d more than $1 million toward the renovation of Key West’s White Street Pier. The money would go to restoring water flow by cutting and bridging two sections of the 1,100-foot-long structure and making the pier fully pedestrian.

Florida Keys History Center
Feb 92 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


January 28
1979 – Acclaimed playwright and Key West resident Tennessee Williams and his friend Datson Rader were assaulted on Duval Street. Both men were punched but neither needed medical attention. Williams said of the attackers, “Maybe they weren't punks at all, but instead New York drama critics.”

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 282 min read


January 13
1956 – Monroe County engineers presented plans for new amenities at Indian Key Fill to the commission. The planned improvements included four round, concrete bathhouses with showers, along with picnic tables and benches.

Florida Keys History Center
Jan 132 min read


December 30
1925 – A train with six water cars derailed overnight at Spanish Harbor near Big Pine Key. A wrecking train was dispatched immediately to clear the tracks, and traffic was restored by dawn.

Florida Keys History Center
Dec 30, 20252 min read


November 28
1995 – Bicycling magazine named Key West the most dangerous city in the U.S. for bicyclists. Florida DOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator Dan Burden noted, “It’s 19 times more dangerous to ride in Key West than anywhere else in the nation.”

Florida Keys History Center
Nov 28, 20251 min read


November 15
1921 – Capt. John W. Pierce retired after serving 62 years as a coast and bar pilot at Key West, where he was generally considered the dean of pilots between Hampton Roads and Pensacola. Pierce was born on the island in 1839, to parents who had emigrated from Bermuda.

Florida Keys History Center
Nov 15, 20252 min read


November 13
1974 – Filming for “92 in the Shade” began at the Cow Key Marina on Stock Island, with actors Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, and Margot Kidder. The film, based on author Thomas McGuane’s novel of the same name, told a tale of rival Keys charter fishermen.

Florida Keys History Center
Nov 13, 20252 min read


November 11
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Nov 11, 20252 min read


November 5
1940 – Key West Judge Arthur Gomez granted Pauline Hemingway a divorce from her author husband Ernest, who did not contest the matter. Pauline was granted custody of their sons Patrick and Gregory and possession of the family home at 907 Whitehead Street.

Florida Keys History Center
Nov 5, 20252 min read


September 28
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Sep 27, 20252 min read


September 21
1948 – A category three hurricane passed over Boca Chica Naval Air Station, where a barometer reading of 28.45 and sustained winds of 122 mph were recorded. In Key West, the storm caused flooding and damage to boats and trees.

Florida Keys History Center
Sep 20, 20252 min read


September 3
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Sep 2, 20252 min read


August 24
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.

Florida Keys History Center
Aug 23, 20252 min read
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