May 11

The interior of Key West's Fort Taylor in November 1977.

1905 – The new Key West Chamber of Commerce met and elected it first officers. They were W.D. Cash, president; G.W. Allen, vice president; G.S. Watts, second vice president and E.M. Martin, secretary and treasurer.

1929 – Florida Motor Lines was planning an intensive advertising campaign throughout Florida to make Key West the tourist mecca of the state.

1951 – The Lower Keys Property Owners Association asked that three volunteers be deputized by the Monroe County Sheriff to patrol in zones from Boca Chica to Big Pine Key, citing “numerous instances of wanton thievery and willful and unlawful entry of homes and cabins” throughout the islands.

1967 – The Florida Keys Aqueduct Commissioners were present as the first fresh water flowed from the new desalination plant. The $3.3 million desalting plant produced 2.62 million gallons of fresh water a day and ended a critical water shortage.

1971 – Florida Secretary of State Richard Stone announced that Fort Taylor and the Key West Armory had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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

Image: The interior of Key West's Fort Taylor in November 1977. Photo by Raymond L. Blazevic. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.