December 7

Postcard of the Southernmost House, owned by author Thelma Strabel, at 400 South Street in Key West.

1908 – The Key West Journal, a weekly newspaper, made its first appearance. Fred H. Mathews was the editor.

1925 – Gangs of workers began widening Key West’s White Street with the removal of telegraph poles, which were to be moved several feet back. The project started at the County Road (Flagler Avenue) and would advance northward.

1935 – The Wall Street Journal reported that the Florida East Coast Railroad’s line through the Florida Keys would be converted to an automobile highway. The financially beleaguered railroad had suffered extensive damage three months earlier in a hurricane on Labor Day. 

1940 – Author Thelma Strabel moved into her new Key West home at 400 South Street by the Southernmost Point. Strabel wrote the novel “Reap The Wild Wind,” a story about island wreckers that was later made into a movie.

1955 – Beach erosion experts were in Key West for a firsthand look at the proposed municipal beach site on South Roosevelt Boulevard. Their goal was to determine what type of beach construction was suitable for the mile-long waterfront.

1960 – In a letter to the Key West Citizen, Carlton J. Corliss reminisced about being the paper’s first Marathon correspondent from 1909 to 1911. He said he was not paid for his services and his contributions were anonymous.

1994 – City Manager Felix Cooper named Richard Wardlow as the city’s fire chief, replacing Chief Edwin Castro who was retiring at the end of the year after a 31-year career as a firefighter.

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

Image: Postcard of the Southernmost House, owned by author Thelma Strabel, at 400 South Street in Key West. From the collection of Christopher C. Belland. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.