July 5

Mike Warren marking 20 years of service at the Council for the Blind stand in the Federal Building on Simonton Street, July 5, 1963.

1830 – Norman Sherwood killed John Wilson in a fight in a grog shop on Front Street, the first recorded murder in Key West.

1909 – Dr. J.B. Maloney was appointed surgeon for the Florida East Coast Railway, and the company also engaged several beds at the Louise Maloney Hospital for the use of their employees.

1934 – Via resolutions made by Florida Governor David Sholtz and city and county commissioners, control of Depression-ravaged and bankrupt Key West and Monroe County was transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Agency’s southeast regional administrator Julius Stone. Stone stated that he was “glad to accept the responsibility of attempting to restore the county and city to prosperity.”

1951 – The Key West Rotary Club was shown a documentary titled “The Fascinating Florida Keys.” The 30-minute, color film was produced by the Florida State Advertising Commission to promote tourism to the island chain.

1961 – Key West City Commissioners approved a one-year, $1,200 lease with the Atlantic Telephone and Telegraph Company for the use of cable storage space at the Mallory Docks.

1963 – Leonard “Mike” Warren celebrated his 20^th anniversary of working at the snack and magazine stand in the Key West Federal Building. Warren was considered one of the city’s most popular and hardest working businessmen.

1983 – Underwater researchers working from Henry Taylor’s vessel Trident found the bell of the English slave ship Henrietta Marie, sunk in 1700.

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

Image: Mike Warren marking 20 years of service at the Council for the Blind stand in the Federal Building on Simonton Street, July 5, 1963. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.