August 9
- Florida Keys History Center
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
1906 – Dr. J.W.V.R. Plummer died at age 64. He had come to Key West during the Civil War and was a prominent physician and civic leader. He served in the state legislature and was Mayor of Key West from 1886 to 1888.
1950 – Thousands of fish were found in Key West streets after a heavy rain. One theory was that a large waterspout carried the fish ashore, an idea supported by the fact that most of the fish were mullet, which swim on the surface. Others insisted it had rained fish. One man even said he saw a full-grown sponge fall from the sky.
1957 – Monroe Circuit Court Judge Marshall C. Wiseheart validated the sale of $150,000 in public improvement certificates by the City of Key West to Key West State Bank for the construction of a “Negro swimming pool.” The pool facility, to be at the corner of Catherine and Thomas streets, would have a capacity of 350 people.
1962 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People submitted a petition signed by 31 Florida Keys parents to Monroe County School Superintendent Horace O’Bryant demanding that students and teachers in the district be assigned to schools “without regard to race, creed or color.”
1965 – The ship Seven Seas was towed into the Port of Key West by the Coast Guard after the ship was found disabled at sea. A crewman had killed five of his fellow crewmen and then left the vessel in a small boat. He was later saved by another ship and turned over to the Coast Guard. He was charged with murder in federal court in Miami.
1967 – Key West won the Florida State Junior Major League baseball championship with a 3 to 2 victory over St. Petersburg.
1985 – Scenes for the film “Blue City,” starring actors Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy, were being filmed in Key West and other Lower Keys locations.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A flooded Key West street, ca. 1950. Jeff Brodhead Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
