September 26

The Price Sponge Loft in the John Lowe building at the corner of Elizabeth and Greene streets.

1824 – Francie Hall, steward on the schooner North America of Baltimore, was arrested at Key West for murder and piracy after a Capt. Nutter of the Columbian privateer Polly Haniton provided information against him to island authorities.

1906 – John Lowe Jr. had a wholesale and retail lumber business, grocery store, ship chandlery and marine railway at the corner of Elizabeth and Greene streets.

1925 – His Highness, the Maharaja of Karpurthala, Prince of India (aka Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur), arrived in Key West from Havana. The Maharaja, accompanied by attachés, enjoyed a brief stay on the island before heading to Philadelphia and New York.

1933 – The lighthouse on Tennessee Reef was lighted for the first time. The new light was 40 feet above mean high water and could be seen for 15 miles.

1935 – Mail service by airplane between Miami and Key West began under the operation of Miami-Key West Airways, Inc. The first flight from the island carried 292 pounds of mail and nine passengers. The new air service would supplement existing mail deliveries by the P&O Steamship company.

1936 – The Interstate Commerce Commission approved a request by the Florida East Coast Railroad to abandon the Overseas Railroad. This action cleared the way for an automobile highway to be built over the railroad’s right-of-way and bridges.

1952 – A partially buried skeleton and coffin found in six inches of water off Boca Chica Beach was identified as the grave of George Roe. Roe had lived at Boca Chica and was killed there in a hurricane in 1910. He had been buried on the beach in a casket made from the remains of his house.

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

Image: The Price Sponge Loft in the John Lowe building at the corner of Elizabeth and Greene streets. From the Otto Hirzel Scrapbook in the DeWolfe and Wood Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.