May 15
- Florida Keys History Center
- May 14
- 2 min read
1832 – John James Audubon arrived at Key West from the Dry Tortugas with specimens of terns, shells, conchs, and coral. He claimed to have discovered five new species of birds in this voyage through the Keys: One of the genus Ardea, two of Columba, and two of Sterna.
1923 – Nearly 200 Key West men were employed in unpacking and reshipping loads of pineapples that came in from Havana. Most of the pineapples were sent northward by train from Key West.
1945 – The Red Cross reported to the parents of Private Jack R. Hyman, Jr., Albury Street residents of Key West, that he had been released from Stalag 7A near Munich after being held as a prisoner-of-war by the Germans for seven months. It was thought that Hyman was on his way home.
1956 – Two of the Navy’s smallest submarines received names in a ceremony at Pier 1 of Naval Station Key West when the subs T-1 and T-2 became USS Mackerel and USS Marlin, respectively. The vessels served as target submarines for the Fleet Sonar School and for anti-submarine warfare exercises.
1961 – Key West’s Thirteenth Street was renamed to Kennedy Drive, and Fifth Street was changed to Macmillan Drive, to commemorate the meeting of President John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on the island.
1975 – The Buccaneer District of the Boy Scouts of America, which encompassed all of Monroe County, had 10 Cub Scout packs with 392 members, 14 Scout troops with 286 members, and three Explorer Posts with 58 Explorers.
1986 – The Key West City Commission, by failing to take any action on several proposals, lost the right to buy Truman Annex, which was later sold at public auction by the General Services Administration.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A new Key West street sign indicating Macmillan Drive, which was formerly Fifth Street and renamed in 1961, after the visit of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
