May 2

The Reef Bar at 1638 Overseas Highway, Marathon, after Hurricane Donna in 1960

1898 – Writer Stephen Crane arrived in Key West as a reporter for the New York World.

1946 – Gulf Oil Company began construction of a distribution center on the water at the north end of Duval Street.

1953 – Boy Scout Troop 59, an all-Black Key West troop under the leadership of Scoutmaster Roosevelt Sands, Sr., traveled to the Dry Tortugas on Navy Patrol Boat 1206. The 24 scouts explored Fort Jefferson and learned about the natural history of the Tortugas.

1955 – Key West resident Tennessee Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

1958 – The deed for a 15.5-acre tract on Big Pine Key was presented by the North American Wildlife Federation to the U.S. Department of the Interior, making it the first land in the newly-authorized National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge. 

1961 – ABC Television aired an episode of the series “Expedition” featuring Marathon and the Middle Keys, with a focus on the area’s recovery from Hurricane Donna.

2000 – The city of Key West and the Last Stand environmental group reached an agreement that cruise ship docking at the Outer Mole Pier would be capped and assessed after three years, with a quality-of-life study to be conducted to determine the effects of the ships’ presence in the area.

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

Image: The Reef Bar at 1638 Overseas Highway, Marathon, after Hurricane Donna in 1960. Photo from Erma Stout's scrapbook. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.