1890 – During a Sunday game of the Key West Cuban baseball league, a melee broke out between overly zealous fans and the players. Twelve people were arrested and sentenced to 15 to 30 days in jail. The mayor threated to end all Sunday play.
1921 – Monroe and Dade County commissioners met and decided to change the path of the highway that would link Key Largo to the mainland. The new route, six miles longer but over shallower water, would cross Jewfish Creek instead of Steamboat Creek.
1942 – The Norwegian merchant ship Gunvor, on a voyage from Mobile to Trinidad with a general cargo, was sunk when she accidentally sailed into the Navy’s minefield northwest of Key West.
1951 – At a meeting sponsored by the Lower Keys Property Association, U.S. Representative Bill Lantaff spoke in the Monroe County courtroom about establishing a 640-acre reservation on Big Pine Key for the Key “Toy” Deer. After a sometimes-contentious discussion, residents supported the proposal.
1986 – Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Robert L. “Bobby” Brown died at age 55. He had also served as Monroe County Sheriff from 1969 to 1977.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Aerial of Big Pine Key ca. 1950. Wright Langley collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.