April 24

The corner of Fleming and Emma streets in the 1930s, before the Navy took the neighborhood to build a brig and training facilities.

1908 – In commencement exercises held at the San Carlos, Lancelot Lester became the first graduate of Key West High School.

1942 – Four city blocks were condemned for expansion of the Key West Naval Station: One bounded by Whitehead, Fleming, Thomas and Eaton streets; others from Eaton to Angela between Thomas and Emma. The owners of the many homes in those blocks were paid a total of $165,702 for their properties.

1946 – The garage and warehouse of the Overseas Transportation Co. in Key West burned in one of the island’s “most spectacular fires in years.” Losses were heavy: 20 trucks, 20 marine engines, a large shipment of soft drinks, and 10 cases of machine-gun shells. The blaze was thought to have been caused by boys smoking cigarettes.

1946 – Willard Albury, Monroe County Superintendent of Public Instruction, announced that a two-classroom, concrete-block schoolhouse would be built at Marathon.

1956 – A Key West automobile service station owner was arrested and charged with “disorderly proceedings” after oil drained from his place of business at 531 Fleming Street into the public right-of-way, causing two people to slip, fall, and be injured because of the slick liquid.

1985 – Key West Mayor Richard Heyman and Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority Chairman Joe Pinder broke ground for a new water distribution system for Key West.

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

Image: The corner of Fleming and Emma streets in the 1930s, before the Navy took the neighborhood to build a brig and training facilities. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.