August 30

Welters' Farm on Rockland Key in July 1979.

1862 – During the month of August there were 150 cases of yellow fever reported by the Army in Key West. The deaths from fever totaled 50, comprising men from the Army, Navy, and Merchant Marine.

1946 – The Key West Police Department instituted a new plan whereby every officer had to report at predetermined locations every hour while on beat. The system was intended to give the public increased and better distributed protection without having to add more personnel.

1951 – Dozens of motor vehicles in Key West were sporting Confederate flags, apparently in support of the “Dixiecrat” political movement.

1976 – Ocean Farming Systems, Inc. sued the Monroe County Mosquito Control District for $2,500, alleging the spray used to exterminate mosquitoes killed brine shrimp held in tanks at their aquaculture facility on Plantation Key.

2001 – The Welters family compound on Rockland Key was destroyed in an overnight blaze. The set of colorful buildings with a small farm had been home to 98-year-old Lewis Welters and members of his extended family for over 50 years.

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

Image: Welters' Farm on Rockland Key in July 1979. Photo by Raymond L. Blazevic. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.