June 25

Key West Bight with Captain Willy Smith's pilot schooner on the left in the 1930s.

1862 – The U.S. Navy’s East Gulf Blockading Squadron, based out of Key West with a mission of intercepting blockade runners supplying the Confederacy, consisted of nine steamers and 13 sailing vessels.

1930 – The Key West Pilot Commission voted to cut pilotage charges in half on all ships calling for fuel, supplies, repairs, or other needs. The move was made to encourage more shipping at the port of Key West.

1957 – The Monroe County Commission voted to lease land on Poorhouse Lane to the City of Key West for use as a “Negro recreation area.” The site was formerly occupied by the old folks’ home.

1976 – The Bicentennial musical “Cayo Hueso 76” opened at the Waterfront Playhouse. The musical that gave a colorful history of the island was written by Jim Russell with historic research by Betty Bruce and Peggy Murphree.

1982 – The last Navy C-121 Super Constellation left Naval Air Station Key West on its last flight to Air and Missile Museum in Florence, SC.

1991 – Bobby Marion Francis was executed in the Florida State Prison at Starke for the August 17, 1975, murder of Titus Walters in Key West.

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

Image: Key West Bight with Captain Willy Smith's pilot schooner on the left in the 1930s. From a collection of photographs taken or collected during the 1930s by the WPA workers in Key West. The Heritage House Collection, donated by the Campbell, Poirier, and Pound families. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.