March 16
- Florida Keys History Center
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
1822 – Congress denied a land grant to the East Florida Coffee Land Association. The group was asking for a 23,000-acre tract that included Key Largo “for the purpose of erecting a town and establishing a colony for the cultivating of vines, olives, almonds, coffee, cocoa, and cochineal.”
1955 – The Gulf Oil Company announced that it would drill a test oil well northwest of Marathon.
1956 – A new 36-by-86-foot educational building for the Marathon Baptist Temple was nearing completion. The building, being built by contractor D.W. Barlow, was expected to open in a week.
1973 – The USS Howard W. Gilmore departed the Key West Naval Station for its new home port of La Madeleine, Sardinia. The Gilmore, a submarine tender, was the largest Navy ship to be stationed in Key West.
1976 – The Historic Key West Preservation Board agreed to sign a lease with the San Carlos Institute, thus putting it under protective, “historic building” status.
1976 – The Florida Marine Patrol said that the illegal harvesting of protected air plants from mangrove forests and other public lands across the entirety of the Florida Keys was a growing problem. Two unauthorized air plant sellers had recently been arrested at a local school flea market.
1986 – Key West Harbor Development, the company that the city had chosen to finance and redevelop Truman Annex, withdrew from its agreement, claiming breach-of-contract by the Key West City Commission.
1996 – The Key West City Commission approved an AIDS memorial plaza to be built at the entrance to the White Street Pier.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Educational building for the Marathon Baptist Temple under construction on March 16, 1956. Photo Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
