Today in Keys History – July 11, 2024
- Keys History Center
- Jul 10, 2024
- 2 min read
1900 – The Key West Library in the Masonic Temple building at 315 Simonton Street had 1,600 volumes under Librarian Sallie E. Roberts. The Library was run by the Ladies Improvement Association. The officers of the Association were: Mrs. C.F. Kemp, president; Miss Carrie Messina, vice president; Mrs. Lydia E. Moss, secretary and Mrs. Benjamin Curry, treasurer.
1908 – J.Y. McKinney, a vegetable and fruit farmer from Ocala, had been selling his produce in Key West for the previous two weeks and found a very good market. He planned to make regular future shipments by boat.
1966 – The Little Minor League Baseball Field was renamed the David McCurdy Midget League Field. McCurdy was instrumental in helping set up recreational facilities in Key West.
1970 – The U.S. Census early count of Key West for 1970 was 30,613, which was a drop in population from 1960 by 3,343. The city disputed the count but the final numbers were even lower at 29,312.
1974 – U.S. District Judge William O. Mehrtens ordered two Keys construction firms to restore the natural contours of Shark Key after they illegally built a dredged dike roadway around the island and destroyed acres of red mangrove trees in the process.
1980 – The Monroe County Advertising Commission was trying to turn around the tourism business losses from the bad press about the Mariel boatlift by allocating an additional $10,000 from its budget for advertising in South Florida.
2014 – The Florida Public Service Commission ruled that, beginning in June 2015, the 786 area code would be issued for new Florida Keys phone numbers. Monroe County had used only 305 since area code numbers were first implemented in 1947.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The Masonic Temple building at 315 Simonton St., Key West, ca. 1890. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
