August 28

U.S. Navy properties from Key West to Boca Chica Key, 1963.

1906 – The Key West Public Library was at the Masonic Temple at 315 Simonton Street. Mary Hobson the librarian oversaw the 1600 volumes.

1925 – The Coast Guard seized the British schooner Fannie E. Prescott off the Florida Keys with 1750 cases of beer on board. The captain claimed he was sailing for Havana to Nassau with no intention of a U.S. landing. British and American diplomats were working to resolve the situation.

1938 – Edward “Coto” Garcia of Key West was selected to sing at New York World’s Fair of 1939.

1940 – The Willkie Democratic Club of Key West was organized with more than 400 members. Secretary Sam E. Harris said, “Our opposition to Roosevelt is based on the conviction that a third term will lead to a dictatorship as it has done, time and again, in Latin-American republics.”

1963 – Rear Admiral L.J. Kirn, Commander of Naval Station Key West, reported the Keys’ Navy population numbered 21,000, including military and dependents. In addition, the military employed 1,860 civilian workers.

1973 – The Attorney General of Florida ruled that a Monroe County referendum to limit the height of condominiums was not a valid use of the election process.

2000 – Concerns were mounting that an orchestra pit had been left out of the design plans for the new Key West High School auditorium, and dozens of students and parents attended a construction update meeting to support the inclusion of one. “There has been a pit, and there will be a pit,” reassured superintendent Mike Lannon.

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

Image: U.S. Navy Properties from Key West to Boca Chica Key, 1963. U.S. Navy Photo. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.