October 13
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.
1946 – Residents in the 2500 block of Seidenberg Avenue in Key West complained about multiple loud explosions in the neighborhood that were coming from dynamiting by Charles Toppino & Sons, who were filling low-lying lots in the area. The city gave the company three weeks to complete the project.
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.
2001 – Key West businesses, including a South Street motel and the Ross department store, were victims of a new scare sweeping the nation – unsolicited mail containing powders feared to be anthrax. In the Keys cases the powders were found to be benign.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Aerial view of Flagler Avenue from First to 10th streets in Key West, ca. 1940s. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
