June 10
- Florida Keys History Center
- Jun 9
- 2 min read
1909 – In hope of finding a source of fresh water at Key West, S.O. Johnson contracted to have a well dug to 1,000 feet. No fresh water was found.
1927 – The Florida Legislature passed a bill that increased Monroe County commissioners’ pay from $100 a month to $150.
1946 – After serving honorably for nearly five years, including 46 months aboard the US battleship Nevada, Key Wester Charles C. Russell was discharged from the Navy. Russell was on the Nevada during the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the invasion of Normandy, and in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He received three commendations for courage under fire.
1952 – The United States Fish & Wildlife Service’s boat Oregon was investigating if Keys waters could support a commercial tuna fishing industry. During a short test near the Dry Tortugas, the boat caught about six and a half tons of “little” tuna.
1954 – Famed dancer Sally Rand was in trouble with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which ordered her two Key West properties to be sold to pay back taxes.
1953 – Captain Manuel “Pete” Fernandez returned to a hero’s welcome at his hometown of Key West. He was the second-ranking jet ace in the Korean War, having shot down 14 MIGs.
1981 – A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new Wendy’s Hamburgers in Searstown Plaza.
2001 – Boot Key harbor live-aboard residents were asking the Marathon City Council to wait until adequate shoreside facilities were in place before they were compelled to use new County mooring buoys that would cost them $100 per month.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Dancer Sally Rand visiting the Key West Naval Hospital in 1944. On the left, PFC Charles W. Tucker USMC; right, Harold V. Inman QM 3, USN. Photo from the Monroe County Library Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
