December 30

A Florida East Coast Railway Company water train on the Seven Mile Bridge, ca. 1920.

1900 – The Key West Golf Club was organized with a large attendance of new members. Jefferson B. Browne was elected president.

1925 – A train with six water cars derailed overnight at Spanish Harbor near Big Pine Key. A wrecking train was dispatched immediately to clear the tracks, and traffic was restored by dawn.

1932 – Karl O. Thompson, sheriff-elect, who took office on January 3, 1933, announced he had appointed seven deputies to serve the county. The deputies were Clements Jaycocks, Leon Roberts, Enrique Mayg, Jack Sauerhoff, Dave Curtis, C.O. Garrett, and Harold Cates.

1935 – The aviary maintained by local Superintendent of Lighthouses William Demerritt was plundered, with many of his rare birds stolen or killed. The Whitehead Street aviary, where Demerritt hand-raised many types of birds, was an island attraction.

1936 – On the first day of the year, the Key West Citizen promised to give the Library $5 for every day the sun did not shine. This agreement cost the paper only $5, as it was only on March 9 that the sun did not appear.

1960 – The North American Wildlife Foundation presented a gift of 341 acres of land on Big Pine and Howe keys, supplemented by $22,400 in funds, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the preservation of Key deer.

1985 – Using a complex data set, Monroe County Judge J. Alison DeFoor II and Key Largo marine biologist James S. Matson determined that the Florida Reef was worth $263.17 a square foot. The valuation was prompted by a case in which a boater ran aground on the reef and was ordered to pay restitution.

---

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

Image: A Florida East Coast Railway Company water train on the Seven Mile Bridge, ca. 1920. The water was carried to its destination in the cypress barrels on flat cars. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.