1855 – The U.S. steamer Corwin, Lieut. T.A. Craven, commanding, was at Key Biscayne, engaged in a coastal survey headed by Professor Alexander Bache. Upon completion, the party was to move to Cape Sable at mainland Monroe County for a similar survey.
1857 – The keels of two schooners, one of 180 tons, the other slightly smaller, were laid in the Brown & Curry shipyard at Key West. Joseph Bartlum, who had built the clipper ship Stephen R. Mallory, oversaw the construction.
1885 – John Geiger died in Key West. He was born in St Augustine in 1807 and came to Key West as a pilot for Commodore David Porter in 1823. He was the first licensed harbor pilot in the State of Florida. Geiger was a master wrecker and built what is now known as the Audubon House.
1898 – As war with Spain grew nearer, American Consul General Fitzhugh Lee and other Americans arrived on the ships from Havana.
1907 – Five hundred men were employed at the Overseas Railroad’s Long Key Viaduct Camp, working in day and night shifts. Each man was assigned a bunk, a mattress filled with cut sponge, and mosquito netting. Aside from the barracks, there was a barber shop, a library, and a field hospital. The men were charged $1.50 for a boat ride to Miami, money used to fund the hospital.
1924 – The State of Florida’s Internal Improvement Fund was advertising Wisteria Island (Christmas Tree Island) for sale. The island which was created when marl from the harbor was thrown upon the shoal. The island was about 400 by 300 feet.
1930 – The ferries Flagler and Parrott arrived in Key West with 31 train car loads of pineapples from Havana.
1933 – Eleven-year-old Palm Tippy was hired as a performer by Pirates Cove Fishing Camp on Sugarloaf Key. Tippy, known as the “world’s greatest child diver,” had been earning $300 to $600 a week as an aquatic stunt double in Hollywood.
1935 – Avery Johnson, the first artist to arrive at Key West with the Florida Emergency Relief Administration, resigned his position with the organization to pursue independent painting.
1937 – The Jose Marti Monument in Bayview Park was unveiled. Mayor Harry C. Galey, Cuban Senator Jose M. Castillo and Marie Gusten, matron of the Mercedes Hospital, presided over the ceremony.
1957 – Two Navy airmen swam seven miles to Boca Chica Key after their small plane stalled and crashed offshore. Walter Cross and Thomas Franks were both knocked unconscious in the accident but came to in the water and started swimming. Both men were in good condition.
1963 – Two reporters from the Key West Citizen visited No Name Key to investigate reports that anti-Castro Revolutionaries were using the island for training. They found a secret camp with nine young Cubans training on the island. At that time there was no bridge to the island.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A WPA water color of the Bahama House at 730 Eaton Street by Avery Johnson on a post card. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection in the Otto Hirzel Scrapbook. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.