November 10

Joseph A. Acosta (L) of Key West, a veteran of the Spanish-American War and WWI, who had joined the U.S. Army at age 14.

1862 – The bark USS Gemsbock arrived at Turtle Harbor off North Key Largo to protect the coal schooners at the Navy coaling station there.

1934 – Myrtland Cates was dredging a swimming pond along the north side of the Key West boulevard, matching an existing pond to the south of the road that faced Bayview Park. The work was being done under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.  

1945 – The Gulf Oil Corporation was drilling an oil well on Coupon Bight on the south side of Big Pine Key.

1955 – Mrs. Adriana Sands, an 80-year-old WWI Gold Star Mother, was chosen as Grand Marshal of the Key West Veteran’s Day parade. Despite her age, Sands was active in civic and veterans’ affairs on the island.

1956 – The southernmost branch of Toastmasters International was organized by Joe Simpson, formerly a member of the northernmost Toastmasters Club in Fairbanks, Alaska.

1975 – According to a count by Hank Kokenzie, Director of Veterans Affairs for Monroe County, there were approximately 12,000 U.S. military veterans residing in the Keys.

1983 – At the organizational meeting of the Monroe County Commission Wilhelmina Harvey was elected Mayor of Monroe County, the first woman to hold that office.

1985 – Captain Clifton “Lefty” Reagan died at the age of 77. He had been a charter boat captain in Key West for 38 years. He was the guide for Doc and Helen Robinson when they developed the system for catching the first sailfish on fly tackle.

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

Image: Joseph A. Acosta (L) of Key West, a veteran of the Spanish-American War and WWI, who had joined the U.S. Army at age 14. Photo published in the Miami Herald on December 6, 1976, after his death at age 102. Wright Langley collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.