February 18
- Florida Keys History Center
- Feb 18
- 2 min read
1856 – The ship Lavinia Adams, wrecked at Looe Key in December, sailed from Key West to New Orleans for repair. The vessel had leaked at a rate of 60 inches a day, but a windmill pump placed onboard was expected to keep the water at bay. Wreckers were awarded fees of $9,727 and $12,613 for their efforts in saving the ship.
1872 – A correspondent wrote of Key West, “At the wharves you see the ugly hulls of wrecked vessels, which were formerly the main objects of trade in Key West. But this gloomy business is falling off every day. The few years of ocean steam navigation is curtailing that of sailing vessels, and the wreckers complain of dull times.”
1929 – A new post office opened at Perky on Sugarloaf Key. There had been a post office at an earlier settlement there called Chase, but it had closed 12 years before.
1939 – President Franklin Roosevelt arrived in Key West at 3 p.m. after driving the Overseas Highway from Miami. He was met at West Summerland Key by Key West Mayor Willard Albury, who rode to the city with him. The President inspected the inactive Naval Station facilities and then boarded the USS Houston, which sailed for the Caribbean to take part in war games.
1998 – The Transit Center for Cuban Refugees on Stock Island closed, and its rafts and other artifacts were moved to Miami where they became part of a museum of the exodus of Cuban and Haitians.
1999 – The new Mariners Hospital in Tavernier opened as patients were transferred from the old building.
1999 – Key Wester Howard S. England died at the age of 85. England spent many years working at Fort Taylor, both as a volunteer and Florida State Park Ranger, and he was instrumental in saving Fort Taylor and the creation of the Fort Taylor State Park.
2016 – Mote Marine Laboratory began demolition of its three aging buildings on Summerland Key. The project was the kickoff for the development of a new $5 million state-of-the-art research and education facility.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The top of a building at the end of Duval Street and Key West Harbor. Taken from Tift's Tower and looking north toward Fleming Key. ca. 1870. DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
