May 14
- Florida Keys History Center
- May 13
- 2 min read
1926 – Key West Police Chief Cleveland Niles proudly announced that there had been no activity registered on the police blotter for two days, the first time he could remember such a situation. Niles said his men “were just as vigilant as ever, but there are no offenders.”
1936 – An address on the Townsend Old Age Pension Plan was delivered at Bayview Park in Key West by M.H. Lockyear of the plan movement’s national headquarters. The Townsend Plan, an alternative to Social Security, proposed a $200 monthly benefit to everyone over 60.
1942 – The Mexican freighter Potrero Del Llano was sunk by the German submarine U-564 near Fowey Rocks Lighthouse.
1956 – Duval Street businessmen were petitioning the city of Key West to restore metered parking along the commercial blocks of the island’s main street. “People just will not park in a distant parking lot and walk to our places of business to shop,” they said, referring to the new lot at Angela and Simonton streets.
1964 – Francis Cardinal Spellman, military vicar of the Catholic Armed Forces of the United States and Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of New York, arrived in Key West to visit the Naval Station.
1978 – The Panamanian freighter Florida Silver Bow ran aground on the reef near the American Shoals Lighthouse.
1980 – A task force of Key West business leaders was formed to combat the perception that Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift had overwhelmed the island. Merchants reported that business was down between 25 and 50 per cent compared to the previous year.
1986 – The General Services Administration gave the city of Key West until 5 p.m. to finalize an offer to purchase the Truman Annex property. The deadline was not met, and though the GSA was entertaining other offers, an auction of the former Navy base appeared increasingly likely.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Cuban refugees from the 1980 Mariel Boat Lift at the USO building, 530 Whitehead Street, which was used as a refugee center. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
