October 13
- Florida Keys History Center
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
1861 – Major William French of the U.S. Army wrote at Key West: “There are 700 persons on the island that have taken the oath of allegiance, and yet I was reliably informed that there are not over 150 true Union men.”
1930 – Doris V. Long, a Key West school teacher, died from an illegal abortion performed by a doctor in Fort Myers.
1933 – Monroe County voted 1,299 to 85 for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which had outlawed the sale of alcoholic beverages.
1950 – An influx of migrating birds was being exploited by many Key West youths, who were shooting them with slingshots and BB guns, especially in the city cemetery. Police Chief Joseph Kemp warned the killing had to stop, and that he and his men were on the lookout for offenders.
1953 – In a drastic move to combat the spread of polio, the Navy closed all pools, movies, clubs and stopped all social functions. A total of 47 cases of the disease with three deaths had been reported in the county for the year.
1960 – Monroe County Supervisor of Registration Wm. “Billy” Freeman reported a total of 16,027 registered voters – the most in county history. Of those, 15,407 were Democrats, 516 were Republicans, and 104 were registered as Independents.
1975 – A 15-month survey of the coastal boundaries of the Florida Keys was completed by the National Ocean Survey and the Florida Department of Natural Resources. The study, which measured the mean high and low tide lines, determined the boundaries between upland and submerged lands.
2005 – Producers of MTV’s “The Real World” series being filmed at 26 Driftwood Drive in Key Haven said they would most likely “fold up shop and leave town” if an injunction filed against them by neighbors was successful. Area residents were upset by the team’s bright set lights.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Democratic Headquarters in Key West, ca. 1960. Seated left Kermit Lewin, Gerald Saunders and standing left Harry Knight and William "Billy" Freeman. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
