May 30

The Key West Golf Course in the 1930s.

1897 – A party of Cuban sponge fishermen reported finding the wreck of a yacht 25 miles west of Key West in 40 feet of water. The vessel showed signs of a collision, and the body of a teenage girl was in the submerged cabin. The startled divers fled the scene without getting the name of the yacht.

1902 - Movie star Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, popularly known as “Stepin Fetchit,” was born in Key West.

1931 – Key West golf champion Robert Spottswood and six-time Havana women’s champion Mabel Stanford played an exhibition match at the Key West course, with Spottswood emerging victorious. Sanford, who had lived in Key West as a child, said the course was one of the trickiest she had played.

1936 – President Franklin Roosevelt approved a federal loan of $3.6 million to build a highway over the old Overseas Railroad bridges. After having spent months waiting for such an announcement, Key Westers took to the streets to celebrate.

1947 – In a letter to Governor Millard Caldwell, Bernie C. Papy of Key West resigned from the Florida House of Representatives after his indictment on charges of attempting to bribe fellow members.

1985 – In federal court, 12 of the 14 people charged in what was known as the “Bubba Bust” drug case were found guilty.

1990 – Thunderstorms during the night dumped 3 1/2 inches of rain on Key West, flooding streets, businesses, and parked cars.

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

Image: The Key West Golf Course in the 1930s. Photo by Oliver Griswold. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.