1831 – The 230 Irish laborers at Key West from the wrecked ship Maria were still restless, and they gathered at F.A. Browne’s wharf. Fights broke out within the group, and “a disfiguration of eyes and noses followed,” only adding to the angry air. The group took to the streets, and Key Westers feared for their property and safety. Army and Navy personnel came out to patrol the streets and guard businesses through the night.
1884 – A coconut tree was donated by John White of Key West to the New Orleans Exposition. The 30-foot-tall tree was lifted out of the ground with the aid of pulleys rigged to two masts.
1906 – Key West was the largest city in the United States with no railroad connection.
1966 – Miami driver Jim Wynne steered his 28-foot “Ghost Rider” to victory in the Miami to Key West powerboat race. Wynne and his craft completed the 158-mile course in three hours, 13 minutes, and 55 seconds.
1984 – John Meek, the “Iguana Man,” died at the age of 75. Meek and his pet iguanas were favorites at the Mallory Square sunset celebration.
1986 – Joaquin “Bolo” Godinet died at age 85. For 64 years he had delivered the Miami Herald in Key West using only a bicycle.
1994 – Frank Baing, the “Conch Salad Man,” died at the age of 93. In the 1950’s he became one of the first vendors to sell food at Mallory Square.
2004 – Two men pled guilty in federal court for trespassing and damaging areas of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge at the Marquesas Keys. The men were searching for buried treasure and had cut a 170-foot-long path into one of the islands and dug a four-foot deep, 1,000-square-foot hole in quest of a fortune.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: John Meek, “The Iguana Man,” C 1980. Iguanas were once rare in the Keys, and Meek would show his pet specimens to visitors for a fee. Gift Flynn Smith. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center