January 28
- Florida Keys History Center
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
1836 – Key West experienced “the coldest night ever known” when the temperature dropped to 44 degrees.
1926 – World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey arrived in Key West by train. The renowned boxer stayed a few hours before heading to Havana on a steamship. He promised to stay a bit longer on his return.
1936 – The receivers of the Florida East Coast Railway Company filed a report with the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville declaring the estimated damages to the railroad in the Keys caused by the hurricane of Sept. 2, 1935, were between $1.8 and $2.9 million.
1941 – G.L. Straub, representing a New York City engineering firm, arrived in Key West to begin preliminary surveys for the proposed freshwater pipeline from Homestead. The project commenced with test wells being sunk south of Florida City in search of a suitable water supply.
1956 – The Key West Rainbow Girls held car washes at Sigsbee Park, and the Poinciana and H&Y service stations to raise money for the local polio fund.
1979 – Acclaimed playwright and Key West resident Tennessee Williams and his friend Datson Rader were assaulted on Duval Street. Both men were punched but neither needed medical attention. Williams said of the attackers, “Maybe they weren't punks at all, but instead New York drama critics.”
1983 – Mitchell Wolfson, Key West native who founded Wometco Enterprises in Miami, died at age 82. In addition to the Miami holdings, Wometco owned the Conch Train. In the early 1960s, Wolfson and his wife Frances saved the Audubon House from destruction and had it fully restored.
1985 – Radio Martí began broadcasting from a transmitting tower at Marathon. The 14 hours of daily programming aimed at Castro’s Cuba originated in Washington, DC.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Playwright Tennessee Williams with Dr. Smith of Florida Keys Community College looking at building plans for the Tennessee Williams Fine Art Center, 1979. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
