May 5

Dominique LeFort, aka "The Cat Man," performing with his trained cats at Mallory Square Sunset Celebration, Key West, December 1988.

1907 – Professor John B. Watson of the University of Chicago visited the Keys as a representative of the National Audubon Society. He stayed on Bird Key at the Dry Tortugas to prevent the rookeries from being disturbed during the nesting season.

1926 – D.B. and C.P. Russell began construction of a new hotel on Upper Matecumbe Key. The two-story “Russell Arms Hotel” was expected to cost $45,000.

1952 – Senator Estes Kefauver, campaigning for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, was in Key West and made a speech at the Elks Club Annex.

1964 – Bernie C. Papy, defeated for re-election as Monroe County state representative two years before, won the office again in the Democratic primary. Other winners were John Spottswood, state senator; Reace Thompson, sheriff; Thomas Caro, judge, criminal court; Joe Allen, tax assessor; Howard E. Wilson, tax collector; William Osterhoudt, county commission; Harry Pritchard, county commission; Harry Harris, county commission; and Enoch H. Walker, school board.

1970 – Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Aquilino Lopez Jr. ruled that the Club Jerezano on North Key Largo could train, breed, and sell fighting chickens provided there was no gambling, and the birds were not fitted with steel spurs.

1986 – Traffic signals began to be used at the “triangle” intersection of US1 and A1A at the eastern end of Key West. Motorists were urged to use caution since there would be no more through lanes as before.

1989 – The Key West Economic Review Committee proposed that a 25-cent fee be charged to every person watching the sunset from Mallory Square, which would generate nearly $100,000 annually.

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

Image: Dominique LeFort, aka "The Cat Man," performing with his trained cats at Mallory Square Sunset Celebration, Key West, December 1988. Photo by Richard Watherwax. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.