October 30
- Florida Keys History Center
- Oct 29
- 2 min read
1829 – A correspondent wrote of the terrible toll yellow fever had taken at Key West: “Of between 150 and 160 inhabitants who remained to spend the summer months on the island, upwards of 70 have fallen victim to the dreadful malady. But one solitary individual in the place (F.A. Browne, Esq.) has entirely escaped.”
1899 – The cigarmakers formed a union composed of both Americans and Cubans. Even though the Cubans were in the majority there were to be two sets of officers who would alternately be in charge of the weekly meetings. To avoid strikes, a committee of one Cuban and one American in each factory was to be chosen to report complaints. They would report to the general committee, which would make the final decision.
1900 – The people of Key West raised over $1,200 for victims of the Galveston hurricane. The disbanded cigarmakers’ union voted to give the $375.75 remaining in the treasury to the cause.
1923 – The Pierce Brothers Hardware Company was located at the corner of Fleming and Elizabeth streets. They carried building materials, tools, sporting goods, bicycles and automobile accessories.
1935 – Harry Hopkins, head of the Works Progress Administration, offered that his organization construct a chain of permanent, hurricane-proof shelters along the length of the Florida Keys. The shelters would also house small boats, which had proved to be the only effective means of transport after the devastating hurricane of September 2.
1960 – A team of “petroleum technicians, tool pushers, drillers, and roughnecks” from the California Company arrived in Key West to begin drilling four 6,000-foot test wells near the Dry Tortugas and Rebecca Shoals.
2018 – It was announced that Key West Police Capt. Sean Brandenburg would succeed retiring Police Chief Donie Lee when he stepped down in December.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An oil drilling platform at Key West's Mallory Dock, 1960s. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
