February 9
- Florida Keys History Center
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
1829 – A duel was fought between Charles E. Hawkins, of the Mexican Navy and William Allison McRea, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Four shots were exchanged. Mr. Hawkins was wounded in his wrist and Mr. McRea was hit in his thigh. The duel was prompted by Hawkins having seen McRea leaving from his wife’s bedroom window.
1888 – A Jacksonville newspaper reported that 50 new buildings were being constructed every week at Key West.
1926 – General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, spent the day in Key West. Pershing said he considered the development of the Over-Sea Highway crucial to the city’s progress.
1936 – Movie star Nancy Carroll, accompanied by national affairs writer Quentin Reynolds, left Key West via airplane for Miami. Carroll enjoyed her time on the island, where she spent time autographing photos and postcards for fans and fishing with Ernest Hemingway on his cruiser Pilar.
1965 – The Monroe County School Board ordered total integration of all public schools in the county and the closing of the all-Black Burlington Grammar School on Key Largo.
1973 – A short but violent storm with winds to 55 mph crossed Key West, causing damage to multiple boats.
1994 – The Florida Keys Tourist Development Council OK’d more than $1 million toward the renovation of Key West’s White Street Pier. The money would go to restoring water flow by cutting and bridging two sections of the 1,100-foot-long structure and making the pier fully pedestrian.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An aerial view of the White Street Pier, Rest Beach, and Higgs Beach. Taken on September 1, 1999, by Ty Symroski and Wendy Tucker. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
