March 28

Aerial view of Wisteria Island (aka Christmas Tree Island).

1901 – Mrs. William Curry, widow of the late Key West millionaire, died at age 72. She was born at Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas.

1949 – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived at Naval Station Key West. The General had been ill with a reported stomach ailment and was treated at the Key West Naval Hospital.

1953 – J. Roland Adams, lifelong Key West resident, died at age 77. Mr. Adams was owner and operator of Adams Dairy, which he had founded 35 years earlier.

1976 – The Florida Supreme Court approved a request by Circuit Court Judge Ignatius M. Lester that Monroe County be given a third county judge. The court’s existing heavy load, and the fact that all city court cases would be transferred to the county in 1977, prompted Lester’s request.

1983 – A Dade County Circuit Court jury deliberated for 58 minutes before finding Bobby Marion Francis guilty of first-degree murder for the August 1976 slaying of Titus Walters in Key West. This was the third conviction of Francis for the murder, with the two earlier convictions overturned on appeal. The jury recommended life imprisonment, but Judge Phillip Knight sentenced Francis to death.

1998 – Monroe Circuit court Judge Steven Shea gave the oath of office to the first Islamorada Village Council. The Council then elected Ron Levy as the first mayor.

2016 – A federal appeals court ruled against a development group that claimed ownership of Wisteria Island in Key West Harbor, saying the statute of limitations on any title dispute had expired in 1963. The decision meant the Bureau of Land Management’s claim to the island remained in place.

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

Image: Aerial view of Wisteria Island (aka Christmas Tree Island). Taken on September 1, 1999 by Ty Symroski and Wendy Tucker. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.