April 17

County Beach (now Higgs Beach) looking west from top of West Martello, 1950s.

1835 – Alden A.M. Jackson was conducting a school in the Monroe County Courthouse. The costs were from $2 to $4 per month according to the field of study.

1884 – The Key West Gas and Electric Light Company was incorporated with J.J. Philbrick, president; R.A. Monsalvatge, secretary and J. Fogarty, treasurer. The electric plant cost $90,000 and had a capacity of 2,000 incandescent lights and 50 arc lights.

1934 – The Coast Guard cable ship Pequot replaced 2,700 feet of storm-damaged telephone cable between Key West and the Sand Key lighthouse. Telephone service at the small island was essential for lighthouse staff, as well as for mariners who found themselves stranded there.

1946 – The Drudge and Harvey cement block factory opened at the Curry & Sons property on the Key West waterfront. The company planned to produce 1,000 blocks a day, enough for the needs of the Keys.

1949 – The new Monroe County Beach (now Higgs Beach) was dedicated. Judge Thomas S. Caro spoke, and Frank Bentley, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, made the formal dedication. The County had issued a $350,000 construction bond for the new beach.

1958 – Mrs. Evelio Cabot, a teacher at Truman School, was named the outstanding elementary school teacher in Florida. Mrs. Cabot had been a teacher at the school for 25 years.

1995 – The first families began moving into new Navy housing units at Peary Court in Key West.

2006 – A two-year, $50 million joint effort between the Navy and the City of Key West to dredge Key West Harbor from the Main Ship Channel to Mallory Square was completed. The project took the waterway to a uniform depth of 34 feet, making it accessible to both military vessels and cruise ships.

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

Image: County Beach (now Higgs Beach) looking west from top of West Martello, 1950s. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.