July 3
- Florida Keys History Center
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
1864 – A private at Fort Jefferson wrote, “Several of the Officers are sick, but I do not wonder at that for the night is often made hideous by the excessive use of king alcohol…”
1889 – L.W. Bethel was elected city attorney by the Key West City Commission.
1904 – Mrs. Clarence K. Till, widow of police officer Till, was presented with a deed to a house and lot bought by the citizens of Key West after her husband was killed in the line of duty.
1926 – The Key West Fire Department received a donation of five gas masks and six spotlights from Monroe County. The masks, which were attached to air canisters by 18-inch hoses, allowed firemen to “pass right through burning buildings regardless of steam, smoke, or poisonous gasses.”
1946 – The price of burial lots in the Key West Cemetery increased from $20 to $30. The City Manager had requested the increase to help defray maintenance costs and other expenses in the cemetery.
1954 – Harold Laubbdchen, manager of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, announced Key West had its first advertisement on a nationwide radio program. The spot was in the show “Florida Calling” on the Mutual network. The spot was on five days a week for two months and cost $1,000.
1975 – The National Park Service announced the first purchase of land for the Big Cypress National Preserve – 420 acres of mainland Monroe County acquired from Vernon and Loi Duckett of Takoma Park, Maryland.
2006 – Islamorada was considering restrictions to the popular Whale Harbor sandbar, which was drawing raucous, partying crowds, especially on holidays like the Fourth of July. The Village Council was exploring closure of the sandbar at certain times of the year or limiting the number of boats that could gather there.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Key West Police Officer Clarence Till's widow and children at his grave in the Key West Cemetery, 1904. Gift Till Family. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
