July 9

The Barnes/Card Sound Drawbridge, 1920s.

1898 – Private Robert Hunter, Company H 25th Infantry, died of typhoid in the Army Hospital at the Convent of Mary Immaculate in Key West.

1924 – The Barnes Sound Bridge at Key Largo was completed. As soon as a small stretch of road was finished near Florida City, this would allow motorists to travel between Dade and Monroe counties.

1926 – A report showed that in 1925 the Port of Key West handled 51,134 passengers from foreign countries – 43,392 U.S. citizens and 7,742 aliens – more than Philadelphia, Boston, Norfolk, San Francisco, Galveston, and Baltimore combined.

1933 – Author Ernest Hemingway, fishing in Cuban waters with Captain Joe Russell of Key West, caught a Marlin that was 12 feet 8 inches long and weighed 468 pounds.

1942 – The Honduran cargo ship Nicholas Cuneo was sunk 66 miles southwest of Key West by the German submarine U-571.

1947 – The Navy announced it would move its Special Weapons and Devices School from New London, CT, to Key West. The school had a staff of six officers and 17 enlisted men and a normal student population of 16 officers and 150 enlisted men.

1966 – The Key West International Airport terminal was deserted as a nationwide airline machinists strike halted northward connections and forced ticket counters to close.

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

Image: The Barnes/Card Sound Draw Bridge, 1920s. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.