November 5
- Florida Keys History Center
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
1906 – During 48 hours over 9 inches of rain fell, flooding the lower parts of the city of Key West. The water at the corner of Southard and Margaret streets was over 2 feet deep.
1935 – Thompson Fish Company announced that they had purchased the Overseas Transportation Company and started freight service from Miami to replace the Overseas Railroad that was destroyed in the hurricane.
1940 – Key West Judge Arthur Gomez granted Pauline Hemingway a divorce from her author husband Ernest, who did not contest the matter. Pauline was granted custody of their sons Patrick and Gregory and possession of the family home at 907 Whitehead Street.
1955 – On average, 33 cents of every dollar of Keys residents’ local retail spending went towards food, which was significantly higher than the national average of 24 cents.
1996 – Shirley Freeman and Mary Kay Reich were re-elected to the Monroe County Commission and Rick Roth was re-elected as Sheriff.
1998 – Jeffrey Wade Wallace was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1997 murder at Rumrunners Bar.
2015 – As part of the annual “Meeting of the Minds” Parrotheads convention, singer Jimmy Buffett performed at Key West’s Casa Marina Resort. He and his band played the 1973 album “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean” in its entirety.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Postcard of Key West viewed from the Lighthouse. Ernest Hemingway home in foreground. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
