October 5

Monroe County Courthouse and Jail on Whitehead Street in Key West, 1920s.

1836 – Seminole Indians destroyed the Key Largo garden of John Whalton, captain of the Carysfort Reef lightship, by cutting down fruit trees and sugar cane and digging up the potatoes and vegetables.

1925 – Thomas Pinder was appointed caretaker of the Monroe County Courthouse grounds at Jackson Square in Key West. Pinder was to tend to the hundreds of recently planted shrubs and trees and stop attacks on them by boys who frequented the grounds.

1933 – A hurricane passed 50 miles to the southeast of Key West. Winds of 65 to 70 mph were recorded in Key West.

1951 – Helicopter Scouting Squadron HS-1 was commissioned in ceremonies held at the Seaplane Base. It was the first HS squadron in the Navy. Commander Joseph T. Watson was the Commanding Officer of the Squadron.

1966 – Hurricane Inez passed over Key West during the night with winds to 90 mph and moderate damage. The storm passed over the Keys from the north and the eye moved southwest moving over the Keys. The lowest barometer reading recorded in Key West was 29.18.

1985 – The 22-unit Key Plaza Shopping Center in Key West sold for $7.6 million to Community Centers VII, a Delaware corporation with an office in Philadelphia.

2015 – Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez proposed that the streets in the new Truman Annex Waterfront Park be named for local Black families.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: Monroe County Courthouse and Jail on Whitehead Street in Key West, 1920s. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.