March 22

Carolyn Gorton Fuller working on her Angela Street Bottle Wall, with the Key West Cemetery and fence in the background, February 1987.

1898 – Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix, carrying the final report of the USS Maine Court of Inquiry, sailed on the steamer City of Key West for Washington via Miami.

1902 – Famed writer Mark Twain and Congressman Thomas B. Reed stopped in Key West on their way to Cuba.

1926 – Prohibition officers made a large capture of liquor on Boca Chica Road when they found an automobile heavily loaded with five-gallon demijohns of booze and a nearby skiff carrying even more. The liquor had been transferred from a larger boat offshore that managed to get away. No arrests were made.

1927 – Tire manufacturer Harvey E. Firestone stopped in Key West on his way to Havana.

1941 – Monroe Circuit Court Judge Arthur Gomez granted a divorce to Betty Compton dissolving her marriage with Jimmy Walker, former mayor of New York City.

1976 – Monroe County Planner Fred Waldinger resigned after only six months on the job, saying he could not stand by and watch the flagrant violation of development laws and regulations. Waldinger was especially critical of county commissioners and building officials.

1995 – The City of Key West and the Historic Florida Keys Foundation were evaluating plans to replace the chain link fence surrounding the Key West Cemetery with a historic-looking fence resembling wrought-iron. One estimate priced the project at $238,000.

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

Image: Carolyn Gorton Fuller working on her Angela Street Bottle Wall, with the Key West Cemetery and fence in the background, February 1987. Photo by Richard Watherwax. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.