August 17

A Havana railroad car ferry at the pier at Trumbo Point, Key West, 1920's.

1927 – Two men, one from Bulgaria and one from Yugoslavia, were pulled from a fish oil tanker car carried on a ferry from Havana to Key West. The men were barely alive and covered in oily slime after having stowed away in the airtight tank for 12 hours.

1961 – Department heads for the City of Key Colony Beach were: Mayor Arthur Stirrat, head of law, general government and courts; Wm H. Dwyer, head of the finance and fire departments; George Donovan, city planning and development; and Charles Anderson, head of conventions, advertising and promotion.

1964 – Dr. Wheelock A. Bison, a Key West native, was presented with Florida A & M University’s Meritorious Achievement Award. Dr. Bison had become a prominent physician and surgeon in Memphis.

1981 – Tropical Storm Dennis stalled over South Florida dumping 3.88 inches of rain on Key West.

1987 – Scenes for a television mini-series on the life of Ernest Hemingway were being filmed at the Hemingway House, Land’s End Marina, and on the waters off Key West.

---

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

Image: A Havana railroad car ferry at the pier at Trumbo Point, Key West, 1920's. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.