August 24

Rest Beach Navy housing at the south end of White Street and Atlantic Boulevard in Key West on December 19, 1945.

1894 – The Wagner Canning Company of Key West closed its plant for the season after processing 50,000 cases of canned pineapples. The pineapples were grown on the Upper Keys and brought to Key West.

1936 – Herbert F.R. Reck, director of the Key West Works Progress Administration, gave a talk at the Key West Public Library to the Garden Club and Tree Guild about the WPA’s beautification program for the island city.

1945 – After being briefly halted with the ending of WWII, a contract was renewed for Fred Howland, Inc. to go ahead and complete the construction of 155 low-cost Navy housing units at White Street and Atlantic Boulevard.

1953 – The Navy announced that the five Navy enlisted men and one officer who were convicted or facing charges in connection with the Charity Carnival sponsored “stag show” that all the enlisted men had been cleared and the officer was given a severe reprimand and forfeiture of pay.

1961 – The film “Operation Abolition” was being screened at various locations in and around Marathon. It was a documentary picture produced by the House Committee on Un-American Activities to warn U.S. residents of the dangers of communism.

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

Image: Rest Beach Navy housing at the south end of White Street and Atlantic Boulevard in Key West on December 19, 1945. U.S. Navy photo from the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.