August 15

S. H. Kress and Company building at 500 Duval Street, Key West, in the 1960s.

1906 – Key West cigar manufacturer Walter S. Lightbourn died in Batabanó, Cuba.

1924 – Contractor Paul Boysen swung a pick to break ground and begin the construction of the La Concha Hotel in Key West.

1956 – In a campaign to end the spread of polio, the Monroe County Health Department administered Salk polio vaccines to 369 young Keys residents between the ages of 6 months and 19 years old.

1966 – Rescuers had spent two days pulling 60 stranded pilot whales off sand bars on the bay side of Grassy Key. A dozen of the whales died, and their bodies were sunk in the deep waters of the Gulf Stream.

1968 – Rear Admiral Frederick J. Bush cut the ribbon for the first unit in the new Navy Poinciana Housing complex in Key West.

1972 – Mrs. Virginia Recupero, a Key West resident, became the first American to receive a nuclear-powered pacemaker in an operation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach.

1976 – Basic city of Key West bus fare increased from 25 cents to 35 cents. For senior citizens the rate was 15 cents until 2 p.m.; students were also charged 15 cents during school hours.

1978 – David Wolkowsky bought the Kress Building at 500 Duval Street in Key West from Norman Artman for $210,000.

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

Image: S. H. Kress and Company building at 500 Duval Street, Key West, in the 1960s. Photo from the Monroe County Property Appraiser's office. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.