July 20
- Florida Keys History Center
- Jul 20
- 2 min read
1844 – A report for the quarter ending June 30 showed that 109 vessels had entered the port of Key West during that time – 78 coastwise; 22 American vessels from foreign ports; and 9 foreign vessels, all with a total tonnage of 8,868 and carrying 726 men.
1900 – In Criminal Court in Key West, the case against E.J. Watson for assault with intent to murder was continued until the next term. Watson was not in custody and was living in extreme southwest Florida.
1925 – An engineering team from the Harland-Bartholomew Co. of St. Louis arrived in Key West to plan the development of Big Pine, Cudjoe, and Summerland keys on behalf of W. F. Burns and Associates of New York. The Burns company planned to expend “a vast amount of money” on extensive improvements to the islands.
1953 – A tentative “Master Plan” for Key West was unveiled at the City Commission meeting.
1967 – Vice President Hubert Humphrey dedicated the Westinghouse desalting plant on Stock Island before a crowd of 500.
1975 – Treasure Salvors tugboat Northwind sank, drowning diver Rick Gage, and Dirk and Angel Fisher. They were part of the crew searching for the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha.
1985 - Mel Fisher and his team at Treasure Salvors, Inc., found the “mother lode” of the 1622 Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha after having searched for it for more than 15 years.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: M/V J.B. Magruder working for Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors on the Atocha site near the Marquesas Keys, ca. 1985. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
