April 15

Coffee Butler and the Key West Junkanoos performing at the Oldest House, ca. 1980.

1886 – The Key West Building and Loan Association was incorporated in 1886 with John J. Philbrick, president; R. Alvarez, secretary, and George W. Allen, treasurer. It was located over the Union Bank at 427 Front Street.

1926 – Construction of the new Cuban Club Stadium at the corner of Duval and Virginia streets in Key West was progressing rapidly. The stadium would adjoin the existing club building and seat 2,000 comfortably. It was promised to be “one of the niftiest places of sports and amusements in the Island City.”

1930 – Andrew J. Page moved his store to the modern two-store concrete building he built at the corner of Fleming and Duval streets in Key West.

1939 – Governor A.B. “Happy” Chandler of Kentucky was a guest at the La Concha Hotel. The Governor and his party brought in a large catch while fishing with Captain Begley Filer.

1970 – Key West High School’s Bill Butler was named the no. 2 basketball player in the state by the Miami News.

1976 – The Key West Junkanoos left for New Orleans for three days of performances at the 7^th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Fair. The Junkanoos played traditional Bahamian and Caribbean music blended into a Key West style.

1980 – Bad weather foiled an unorganized band of Miami Cuban exiles from sailing a fleet of small boats from Key West carrying food and medicine to their countrymen seeking asylum in the Peruvian Embassy in Havana.

2011 – Monroe County’s unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, the lowest in Florida, which had an average jobless rate of 11.1 percent.

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Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: Coffee Butler and the Key West Junkanoos performing at the Oldest House, ca. 1980. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.