July 24

March 1961 dedication by the National Park Service of a plaque in memory of Dr. Samuel Mudd, imprisoned at Ft. Jefferson, 1865-1869.

1843 – Key West wreckers found a burned and abandoned ship off Cape Florida with the mainmast gone and the hold full of water, and they took it under tow. It was later learned the vessel was the Giraud of New Orleans, which had been aimlessly drifting for some time.

1865 – Dr. Samuel Mudd, Edward Spangler, Michael O'Laughlen, and Samuel Arnold – all convicted as conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln – arrived at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas to serve their prison terms. They joined 552 other prisoners being held there.

1898 – Private William Eckstrad, Company C, 22nd Infantry, died of typhoid in the Army Hospital at the Convent.

1935 – A team from the W.P.A. sanitary department traveled from Key West to Bamboo Key, after the recent discovery of the rare plant cuscuta umbellata on the small, Middle Keys island. They intended to transplant the supposedly mosquito-repelling vine at various locations around Key West.

1976 – Glynn Archer Sr. died in Key West. He was terminal manager of the Overseas Transportation Company for 30 years. He served on the Monroe County School Board for 12 years and Glynn R. Archer School (now Key West City Hall) was named after him.

2015 – The Sheraton Suites hotel on South Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West sold for $94 million, or $511,000 per room. The new owners, the Diamond Rock Hospitality Company, intended to spend another $5 million on improvements.

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

Image: March 1961 dedication by the National Park Service of a plaque in memory of Dr. Samuel Mudd, imprisoned at Ft. Jefferson, 1865-1869. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.