June 7

Development on Plantation Key at Tavernier Creek on October 7, 1955.

1898 – A U.S. Marine battalion that had been camped on Key West left for Cuba on the USS Panther.

1934 – An increased allotment of Federal Emergency Relief Administration funds meant that 250 Key Westers could be put to work: 190 were summoned for airport improvements, 20 for the aquarium, 20 at Fort Taylor, and 20 for sanitation projects.

1947 – Captain Ray Noop of the shark fishing boat Dusky brought in a record catch of 20 tons. He had a total of 145 sharks ranging from a 14-foot, 1000-pounder down. The livers were sold to the Borden Milk Company and the fins sold for shark-fin soup.

1960 – Monroe County commissioners ordered staff to develop regulations for the development of new Keys subdivisions. Commissioner A. Maitland Adams noted, “Subdivision developers are providing only one foot of elevation in many cases; miles of canals are being dug without regard to general development.”

1964 – Colonel Robert Spottswood died at age 73. He was survived by his wife Florence Maloney Spottswood and his son John. He was a past president of the Rotary Club and was active in the establishment of the Key West Golf Course and the Key West chapter of the American Red Cross.

1985 – The Key Haven Civic Association voted against a land-use change that that would have allowed developer Arthur Lujan to build a 100-to-200-room hotel on 10 acres at the entrance to Key Haven along U.S. 1.

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

Image: Development on Plantation Key at Tavernier Creek on October 7, 1955. Copyright Edwin O. Swift Jr. from the archives of Edwin O. Swift III. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.