August 12

Postcard of Key West's South Beach, 1940s.

1906 – The Key West City Directory listed 7,997 names of people over the age of 16. This number, multiplied by 3, gave an estimated population of 23,991 for the city.

1932 – Thomas M. Kelly retired after 27 years of consecutive service in the Lighthouse Service. His last station was at Alligator Reef Lighthouse, where he had been since 1917.

1934 – The first edition of the Spanish-language newspaper Cayo Hueso was published. The editor of the new weekly was A.O. Armayor.

1942 – The German submarine U-508 sank the freighters Santiago de Cuba and Manzanillo about 15 miles south of Key West. The two ships were part of a convoy that left from Key West, and they were transporting newly developed radio equipment.

1946 – After being re-tested, the waters of South Beach in Key West were declared safe and free of all disease germs. Staff from the Navy Hospital had issued a warning earlier in the week saying the beach was contaminated, unsafe for bathing, and off-limits to Navy personnel.

1963 – Despite the best efforts of the Navy, Key West, and Big Pine Key fire departments, the “Chavez place” on Old Boca Chica Road, which once housed the Hideaway Bar, was destroyed by flames.

1969 – Two Army Green Berets drowned in a training accident off the Naval Air Station at Boca Chica.

1975 – The Trust for Public Land was buying undeveloped land in the Florida Keys and had acquired over 3,000 acres to date, including Palo Alto, Buttonwood, and Dreguez keys, portions of Pey, Cudjoe, and East Rockland keys, as well as shoreline stretches of Saddlebunch Key.

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

Image: Postcard of Key West's South Beach, 1940s. The DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.