November 8

An aerial view of Key West's Peary Court as a park without Navy housing, ca. 1980.

1863 – The U.S. steamer Daniel Webster arrived at Fort Jefferson with 122 prisoners from Ship Island, Mississippi.

1930 – The Key West City Council and the City Attorney were trying to determine how to best classify radios so they could determine the proper license required for dealers selling them. There had been complaints that multiple stores were selling radios without any authorization to do so.

1948 – President Harry Truman arrived for a vacation and was greeted by a crowd estimated at 25,000 that lined his route from Boca Chica to the Little White House. It was the largest crowd ever assembled in Key West.

1951 – President Harry Truman arrived for his 10th working vacation at the Little White House.

1954 – The 38th case of polio for the year was reported. A Navy man had been admitted with paralytic form of the disease. Of the cases reported for the year, 28 were Navy personnel or dependents.

1975 – A new city arena for horse shows and other equestrian events opened at Peary Court with a two-day championship rodeo sponsored by the Key West Fire Department. The arena was dedicated to Gilbert Gates, Jr. and Larry Brennan, two Key West boys electrocuted in a tragic boating accident.

1985 – University of Miami researchers found a common virus in the blood and brain fluids of many Key West multiple sclerosis patients, suggesting the disease was transmissible. Key West had an MS rate of approximately 1 in 1000 residents, one of the highest in the world.

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

Image: An aerial view of Key West's Peary Court as a park without Navy housing, ca. 1980. From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.