January 3

Charter Boat Row along North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West, ca. 1950.

1831 – U.S. Army troops under the command of Lieutenant Francis B. Newcomb arrived on the schooner Thames to establish the Army Barracks at Key West on the site of the present-day Peary Court Housing.

1926 – Key West Chief of Police Cleveland Niles was employing prisoners in the maintenance of Bayview Park, following his policy that all those in jail under his watch must work.

1934 – Construction of the Key West Aquarium began with the pouring of a concrete sub-footing. F.W. Knapp, construction engineer in charge, reported that he expected the work to finish on schedule.

1936 – Frank W. Lovering of Key West announced that the Florida Keys Sun, a weekly tabloid newspaper he had published since 1929, would cease with this date’s issue. 

1949 – The Key West City Commission granted a lease to the Key West Charter Boatmen’s Association for a portion of Garrison Bight facing North Roosevelt Boulevard.

1959 – About 500 supporters of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro sailed from Key West to Havana on the auto-passenger ferry City of Havana.

1967 – A group of 75 militant Cuban and Haitian exiles, armed with guns and bombs, were arrested at Coco Plum Beach near Marathon. The men were planning to invade Haiti, overthrow the Duvalier government, and then use the country as a base to wage war against Cuba, with the goal of ousting Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

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

Image: Charter Boat Row along North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West, ca. 1950. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.