1815 – Juan Pablo Salas, a Spanish Royal Artillery Officer stationed in St. Augustine, was granted the island of Cayo Hueso by don Juan de Estrada, the Spanish Governor of Florida.
1845 – The Marine Hospital opened in Key West for the treatment of merchant marine sailors.
1912 – A large quantity of dynamite stolen from the railway work camp at Spanish Harbor was found on board the schooner Mount Vernon, anchored nearby. The haul was discovered when the schooner’s cook boarded the vessel and found it was filled with the explosives. There was no trace of the thieves.
1923 – Key West was deluged by 1.05 inches of rain that fell in twenty-two minutes, flooding streets and sidewalks.
1951 – The Walter Mickens Post No. 6021, V.F.W. and William Weech Post No. 168, American Legion, broke ground on a new Post Home at 803 Emma Street in Key West.
1974 – Florida Marine Patrol officers were operating undercover and posing as divers for the opening of the spiny lobster season in hopes of catching people spearing or taking undersized catch. It was estimated that 20,000 divers were in the Keys to get an early grab on the prized crustaceans.
1983 – County Commissioner Alison Fahrer’s one-vote election victory on November 2, 1982, challenged by losing contender Henry L. Rosenthal Jr., was affirmed by Chief Circuit Judge M. Ignatius Lester.
2004 – Researchers from the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, the RPM Nautical Foundation, and the FKNMS Submerged Resources Inventory Team were conducting magnetometer and diving surveys off North Key Largo in search of the wreck of the 1827 pirate slave ship Guerrero.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: 803 Emma St., Key West, ca.1965. American Legion Post 168 & VFW Post 6021; Tract 3, Sqr 2, Pt Lots 1-5. Photo taken by the Property Appraiser’s office. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.