May 28

Aerial view of Garrison Bight and First Street, Key West, ca. 1960.

1863 – The British steamer Dolphin was condemned at Key West. The Dolphin was carrying a large quantity of Enfield rifles and sabers in crates marked “hardware,” apparently being smuggled for confederate forces.

1904 – Men were clearing and grading from Miami for a southern railroad extension, and the news was creating a land boom on Key Largo. Some farmers were turning down offers for their land in hopes that prices would increase further.

1948 – One-and-a-half lots of undeveloped land were sold at Marathon for the highest price ever paid at the island. Dr. Samuel Magill bought the land fronting both the highway and the ocean for $15,500, and he planned to build a tourist court on the property.

1962 – Florida State Road Department surveyors were in Key West to examine the site for a proposed causeway to cross Garrison Bight. The span, to be built on fill from deepening the bight, would start between First and Fifth Streets on one end and join Palm Avenue at the intersection of Eisenhower Drive on the other.

1975 – The Monroe County School Board gave the go-ahead for an experimental cigarette smoking area at Marathon High School for one year. Students had petitioned the board for such an area to help relieve clandestine smoking in school restrooms. The area would be open to grades 10-12.

1980 – The replica Spanish galleon used by Treasure Salvors as a museum and headquarters sank at the dock at the end of Front Street.

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

Image: Aerial view of Garrison Bight and First Street, Key West, ca. 1960. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.