October 17
- Keys History Center
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
1884 – The Jacksonville newspaper “The Florida Times Union” reported there were 22 liquor saloons in Key West.
1899 – Hook and Ladder Company number 1 held a business meeting to discuss uniforms. It was decided to keep the old-style uniform. New silver badges were given to each member for identification at fires.
1910 – A category 3 hurricane with winds to 125 mph at Sand Key hit Key West. The storm lasted 30 hours. Damage to shipping was heavy, but most of the town escaped serious damage as most buildings had survived the hurricane the previous year.
1935 – H.A. Clark, a wealthy man from Chicago, was in Key West looking for contractors, laborers, and suppliers to help him with his planned “extensive developments” in Marathon. Key West Mayor Wm. Malone urged the Monroe County Commission to cooperate with Clark in his endeavors.
1960 – Officials from the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Saline Water were interested in building an experimental, nuclear-powered saltwater conversion plant somewhere in the Florida Keys.
1973 – The USS Amberjack (SS 522), the Navy’s last diesel submarine, was decommissioned and turned over to the Brazilian Navy in a ceremony at the Naval Station. The departure ended Key West’s submarine service that had begun in WW I.
1975 – City of Key West officials met with members of the Old Island Restoration Commission, and all agreed to an ordinance that would give the OIRC jurisdiction over the construction, repair, or alteration of structures in the city’s historic district.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The building at 631 Whitehead Street in 1979 after construction was stopped by the Old Island Restoration Commission, from the Miami Herald of April 12, 1979. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
