March 17
- Florida Keys History Center
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
1836 – In a letter requesting military protection, a resident of Indian Key wrote, “We are certainly in danger of an attack, and it astonishes me that of the force now in Florida, none is sent round here, but they are driving the Indians directly upon us. Shocking, indeed, will be the result if they should come upon us.”
1853 – The case of the brig Cimbrus, which wrecked on the Western Dry Rocks, was heard in federal court. The vessel, sailing from Philadelphia to New Orleans with an assorted cargo and a steam locomotive on deck, broke apart in a storm after it hit the Dry Rocks. The Key West wreckers were able to save the locomotive from the ocean bottom and were awarded a fee of $8,135.44.
1858 – Sombrero Key Lighthouse was first lit.
1916 – The Key West Rotary Club was organized.
1941 – Grant Wood, noted American artist, gave a lecture at the Key West High School Auditorium titled “Contemporary American Painting.” The lecture was a benefit event for the Key West Art Center and the Woman’s Club Library Building Fund.
1956 – Ground was broken to begin the construction of the new Marathon Youth Center. James Ivins oversaw the event with Judge Eva Warner Gibson as official guest. Fundraising for the facility was led by Mrs. James Ivins.
1976 – Keys government and military leaders were in shock after the Pentagon announced that it planned to downsize and redesignate the Naval Air Station at Boca Chica. It was possible that of the 3,227 Navy personnel based there, only 650 would remain.
1996 – Five people were killed and one critically injured when a seaplane crashed upon take-off from the Sigsbee Basin off North Roosevelt boulevard in Key West. The lone survivor, a 10-year-old boy, eventually recovered from his injuries.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An aerial view of Naval Air Station Boca Chica with a North American RA-5C Vigilante flying over, 1970s. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
