December 3
- Florida Keys History Center
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
1838 – The schooner Hiram M. Raymond, sailing from New York to Tampa Bay with a cargo of oats, sprang a leak and entered Key West for repairs. After a survey by the Port Warden, the vessel was condemned as unseaworthy, and the oats were transferred to another schooner.
1859 – In a trial in federal court at Key West, Alejandro Carcer and Guillot Eloy of the American schooner Enterprise were convicted of the murder of Captain B.A. Morantes. They were found guilty, and Judge William Marvin sentenced them to be hanged.
1945 – The Anti-Submarine Surface Group of the Operational Development Task Force, U.S. Fleet, employed 900 officers and men in Key West and was expected to grow until it became one of the largest operations at the Naval Station.
1951 – At the Little White House, President Truman issued an executive order creating a new Committee on Government Contract Compliance with the aim of reducing discrimination against employees because of race, color, creed, or national origin.
1957 – Construction started on the Blue Lagoon Motel at the corner of Sigsbee Road and North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West.
1960 – Dr. H.K. Brooks, a University of Florida paleontologist, was exploring the reefs of the Florida Keys with students to study how the reef and islands had developed over millennia.
2015 – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection requested $13.5 million to repair pedestrian bridges along U.S. 1 that had been closed between 2010 and 2014. The old railroad bridges at Ohio-Missouri, Ohio-Bahia Honda, and Missouri-Little Duck cuts, as well as at Lower Sugarloaf needed overhaul.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Blue Lagoon Motel under construction at 3101 North Roosevelt, Key West, on February 9, 1958. Photo Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.