May 22
- Florida Keys History Center
- May 21, 2025
- 2 min read
1893 – A traveler through the Florida Keys wrote, “Long Key is but little known at present. It is not a resort; but if the tourists and health seekers ever go beyond Bay Biscayne and stop anywhere this side of Key West, it will be at Long Key, the most beautiful of this chain of islands.”
1935 – Monroe County State Representative Bernie Papy’s bill prohibiting the trapping of crawfish and stone crabs in the waters of Monroe, Dade, and Collier Counties, was approved by the Florida house. The bill was intended to protect the creatures from “extermination.”
1956 – Democratic Presidential candidate Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver was campaigning in Key West. He promised Mayor C.B. Harvey that if he was elected, he would make Key West his vacation headquarters.
1960 – Dr. Harry Philpott, Vice-President of the University of Florida, spoke in Key West to the Senior Foreign officers at Fort Taylor and said, “The United States needs another Manhattan Project in the scientific education field.” Philpott warned the Soviets were turning out three times as many engineers and researchers as the U.S. and at much younger ages.
1964 – “Escape From Hell Island,” the Key West-made and locally backed movie, had its world premiere at the San Carlos but received less-than-stellar reviews.
1975 – After hearing complaints from the nearly 300 area residents who utilized mainland Monroe County’s Loop Road, Monroe County Commissioners agreed to allocate $100,000 for repair and resurfacing of the road through the often-forgotten Everglades area of the county.
1982 – The new Seven Mile Bridge was dedicated by Congressman Dante Fascell, and 1,300 runners took part in the first bridge run. The new span was opened for traffic on May 24th.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Estes Kefauver and John Spottswood in Key West on May 22, 1956. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
