Today in Keys History – January 28, 2024
- Keys History Center
- Jan 27, 2024
- 1 min read
1836 – Key West experienced “the coldest night ever known” when the temperature dropped to 44 degrees.
1839 – Mail service to Key West was halted as the government could not afford the mail boat’s $1,500 annual fee.
1850 – The Washington House in Charleston, SC, had a freshly delivered supply of green turtle from Key West and was serving turtle soup, fins, and steaks.
1884 – House lots in Key West were selling for $250 each.
1888 – Key West was working on a telegraphic fire alarm system to aid the island’s all-volunteer service equipped with five steam-powered pump engines.
1978 – Key West police stopped the show of the “Loco-Motion Circus,” a popular sunset act, because the juggling troupe did not have a performance permit.
1979 – Acclaimed writer and Key West resident Tennessee Williams and his friend, Datson Rader, were assaulted on Duval Street. Both men were punched but neither needed medical attention. Williams said of the attackers, “”Maybe they weren’t punks at all, but instead New York drama critics.”
1983 – Mitchell Wolfson, Key West native and successful Miami businessman, died at age 82. Mr. Wolfson and his wife Frances were leaders in Key West’s historic preservation movement and saved the Audubon House from destruction.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Mitchell and Frances Wolfson in front of the Audubon House on Whitehead Street on Jan. 21, 1972. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
