August 4

Key West Police Officer Harry Sawyer presenting a safety award, ca. 1960.

1885 – The Cigarmakers Union went on strike at Key West, closing almost all the island’s factories. The workers were demanding uniform pay rates for different classes of cigar from factory to factory.

1930 – The Navy Department ordered that Naval Station Key West be put on “inactive” status and the functions of the Seventh Naval District be transferred to Sixth Naval District in Charleston.

1955 – A 26-year-old Navy man died of bulbar type of polio, the first death in Monroe County for the year from the dreaded disease.

1955 – The Key West Chamber of Commerce’s new 15-minute film “The Nation’s Southernmost City,” featuring myriad Key West highlights, was set to be aired by 15 TV stations across the country.

1956 – Local officials were warning of a new danger in the Keys – the puss moth caterpillar. The fuzzy creatures, first seen in February, had now spread across the islands and were found on all types of vegetation. The sting of the puss moth was said to be exceedingly painful.

1960 – Key West police officer Cpl. Harry Sawyer was chosen “most outstanding law enforcement officer of the year” by the Key West Junior Chamber of Commerce. It was the first time in six years that a Key West officer had won the coveted county-wide honor.

1994 – A Coast Guard Cutter arrived in Key West with 117 Cuban refugees after they had made a dash for freedom on an absconded ferryboat. The boat ran out of fuel 30 miles from Havana and was intercepted by the Coast Guard.

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

Image: Key West Police Officer Harry Sawyer presenting a safety award, ca. 1960. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.