July 26

The inside of the Cabana Bar at 605 Duval Street, ca. 1950.

1860 – Fernando J. Moreno, the U.S. Marshal at Key West, submitted a final report to the Secretary of the Interior about the African refugees delivered to him by the U.S. Navy. He reported he had received a total of 1,432 Africans and that 294 had died and were buried in Key West. The remaining 1,138 were taken to Liberia, West Africa, by the American Colonization Society.

1902 – The electric and ice plant of William Curry & Sons on Front Street was destroyed when three boilers exploded. Thomas Webb and William H. Saunders were killed when the building collapsed. Pieces of boiler were thrown 10 blocks away, and the city was plunged into darkness. Damage to the plant was estimated at $75,000.

1951 – The Key West Police Department announced the start of a drive to rid bars of underage customers. The task was made difficult because over 2,000 Navy men in the area were under 21, but police said the crackdown would affect all minors, whether they were in uniform or not.

1960 – The Navy announced that military personnel and dependents in Key West totaled 15,725.

2006 – A 30-foot, 15-ton sperm whale died after it had beached itself a day earlier in Spanish Harbor Channel near Big Pine Key. Tissue and blood samples were collected by NOAA scientists before the whale’s body was towed into deep water beyond the reef.

---

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

Image: The inside of the Cabana Bar at 605 Duval Street, ca. 1950. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.