January 12

A view of Key West, looking northwest from the Lighthouse, ca. 1910.

1890 – The first ice was manufactured in Key West at a plant operated by the Sulzer-Vogt company at their facility on the County Road (now Flagler Avenue) near George Street.

1891 – The Key West City Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting the killing or trapping of any songbird.

1911 – The 1910 U.S. census showed Key West had a population of 19,945. This was a significant increase from the 17,114 residents counted in 1900.

1926 – One of the largest crowds ever assembled at Key West welcomed the steamship United States as it arrived at the Porter Dock for its inaugural voyage in a new Tampa-Key West-Miami route.

1943 – The U.S. Government began building the High School Annex on United Street. The $65,000 schoolhouse had 14 rooms and was funded entirely by the federal government.

1961 – A new committee called the People’s Revolutionary Movement was organized at Key West. The slogan of the anti-Fidel Castro organization was “Against the past under Batista; against the present under Castro; for a democratic future for Cuba.”

1971 – John Dedek purchased the neglected property at 227 Duval Street. After he restored it, the former home opened as the Fogarty House Restaurant and Cafe.

---

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

Image: A view of Key West, looking northwest from the Lighthouse, ca. 1910. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.