July 23

White Street a the intersection of Seminary, with Key West High School to the left, on March 22, 1930.

1906 – A group of 15 Key Westers sailed for Miami on the schooner Lily White for the gala celebration of that city’s new trolley car line.

1936 – Prompted by the hurricane that struck the Upper Keys the previous September, a representative for the Works Progress Administration was in Key West to survey school buildings, City Hall, and the County Courthouse in preparation for making them more storm resistant.

1942 – The merchant vessel Onondaga was sunk off the north coast of Cuba by the German submarine U-129.

1946 – A Cuban International Airways plane arrived with a cargo of plantains,

avocados, and other goods for Key West merchants. The company planned bi-weekly flights to deliver produce for the Keys market.

1951 – Major Earl Dillion retired as Key West High School bandmaster. He had directed bands for almost 50 years in the Army and school from California to Key West. He first came to Key West in 1904 with the 9th Coast Artillery and married Alice Marshall.

1952 – Three people on Harris Avenue reported seeing a “flying saucer” to the east of Key West, which they described as a reddish-yellow ball.

1966 – Key West celebrated “Channel 10 Day” as personalities from Miami’s WLBW-TV visited the island and mingled with locals. An hour-long parade was held along Duval Street, which included the television figures, local politicians and law enforcement, school groups, and military personnel.

1990 – The United States House of Representative approved legislation that would establish the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

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

Image: White Street a the intersection of Seminary, with Key West High School to the left, on March 22, 1930. Florida State Photographic Collection from the Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.