March 9

Miss Etta Patterson unveiling the historical marker for St. Paul's Episcopal church in 1962.

1862 – The case of the ship S.R. Mallory, owned by Wm. Curry Sons of Key West, which had wrecked on Middle Key at the Dry Tortugas, was heard in federal court. The vessel, sailing from New York to Fort Jefferson with troops, was saved. Federal Judge William Marvin awarded the salvors a fee of $200.

1871 – Ben and Henry Baker grew the first pineapples on Key Largo for commercial purposes.

1896 – Juana Borrero Pierra, Cuban patriot, poetess, and painter, died in Key West at the age of 18. Borrero began painting at age 5 and wrote her first poem at 7. By 1891, her work began to be recognized and published. Her gravesite in the Key West Cemetery was unidentified until 1972, when it was found by the Cuban Society of Archaeology and Ethnology in Exile.

1926 – Taxi service began in Key West with two automobiles operated by the Yellow Cab system. The cars, brought from New York, were stationed at Hotel La Concha and were on call day and night.

1946 – At a meeting of the Key West branch of the Gulf Coast District Fisherman’s Union, it was decided that all unionized commercial fishermen would display a large, color-coded card reading “Union Boat” signed by the local agent. This was to prevent outside, non-union fishermen from entering local waters.

1953 – Miss Etta Patterson’s coconut cake recipe, long a Key West favorite, was published across the nation in “This Week Magazine” in a feature written by food editor Clementine Paddleford.

1976 – The pier at Light Station Dry Tortugas on Loggerhead Key was dedicated to the memory of Seaman Apprentice William H. Graves, who was killed in an accident during its construction a year earlier. A brass plaque was set at the site in his honor.

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

Image: Miss Etta Patterson unveiling the historical marker for St. Paul's Episcopal church in 1962. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.