June 20

WWI Key West waterfront pass for Joe Russell, a motorman for Wm. Curry & Sons.

1826 – H.A.S. Dearborn, Superintendent of Lighthouses, issued a call for proposals to construct a lighthouse and keeper’s quarters at Sand Key. The light tower was to be of stone or hard brick and 65 feet tall. The quarters were to be built of brick and have dimensions of 34 by 20 feet.

1935 – Drs. Coswell Hargrove and Paul E. Newel arrived at Key West, the first of 15 researchers who would travel to the Dry Tortugas to spend the summer at the Carnegie Institute Laboratory on Loggerhead Key.

1941 – Joe “Sloppy Joe” Russell, famed Key West bar operator, was stricken with a sudden illness while visiting his friend Ernest Hemingway in Cuba and died in a Havana hospital at age 51.

1946 – Aerovias Q made a preliminary flight between Key West and Havana looking to establish regular service.

1952 – Monroe County School systems needed to hire 30 more teachers to handle the ever-growing school population.

1956 – The Keys shrimp fishing industry was advocating for the creation of a marine conservation area to the north of Key West. The area had been used as a minefield during WWII, and of the 4,000 mines laid there, it was suspected that 2,000 remained. Some shrimpers were fishing there at great risk for an “easy” catch.

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

Image: WWI Key West waterfront pass for Joe Russell, a motorman for Wm. Curry & Sons. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.