January 11
- Florida Keys History Center
- 11 hours ago
- 1 min read
1904 – Monroe County Republicans instructed their state delegation to cast votes in favor of the renomination of President Theodore Roosevelt.
1926 – Key West Mayor Leslie Curry ratified an ordinance that made it compulsory to clean up the island’s waterfront. It also required that half-burned buildings be torn down the day after the fire.
1938 – After blasting to level the roadbed, the contractor building the Overseas Highway found traces of oil in the rock on Bahia Honda Key.
1956 – Stanley Switlik announced plans for an exclusive residential subdivision on Long Point Key.
1956 – Florida Governor LeRoy Collins flew to California to meet with millionaire Howard Hughes and developer Del Webb, prompting speculation that it concerned Hughes’ extensive real estate holdings on Plantation Key. A check of deed records, though, showed that Hughes owned no land in Monroe County.
1967 – A Key West-based crawfishing boat and two boats out of Marathon were involved in a gun battle near the Cay Sal Banks, Bahamas, in which one man was killed and one wounded.
1994 – Rex Weech, longtime grounds keeper of the Key West High School stadium, died at age 87.
1998 – Islamorada resident and fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albright died at the age of 82. He pioneered the use of fly tackle for catching bonefish and tarpon.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Captain Jimmie Albright (L) with actor Jimmy Stewart holding a large bonefish. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
