October 20
1825 – A correspondent wrote of the mistreatment of ship owners at Key West, “The conduct of Wreckers, and others, and the wrecking laws of Florida, have become a subject of much complaint: Valuable cargoes are sacrificed for a mere song, and the whole swallowed up in charges.”
1876 – A hurricane with winds of 90 miles an hour struck the Lower Keys. The steamer Godley Kleber of Philadelphia was missing after having initially been reported ashore on the reef, and the steamer City of Boston was aground at Boca Chica with one passenger dead.
1898 – The Cuban population of Key West was dropping as a great number of expatriates on the island were returning to their homeland after the end of the Spanish American War.
1954 – The Naval Air Station at Boca Chica announced the near completion of the $5 million building program that had given the facility a new look. The new buildings included a tower and operations building, a “Denver” type hangar, and a supply warehouse.
1993 – Author James Leo Herlihy died in California. He had lived in Key West from 1956 to 1972, and two of his best-known books, “Midnight Cowboy” and “All Fall Down,” were made into movies.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: James Leo Herlihy in Key West. Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
