1513 – Ponce de Leon sighted the Florida Keys and became the first European to land in what is now called Florida.
1898 – Eight bodies from the Battleship Maine were buried in the Battleship Maine Plot in Key West City Cemetery.
1903 – The British steamship Hangham went aground at New Ground Reef with a cargo of phosphate. Thirteen vessels from Key West worked at freeing the stricken steamer and were able to refloat it.
1929 – Fire destroyed the old Ruy Lopez Cigar Factory near the county road. The building had not been in use for several years but was still estimated to have had a worth of $10,000.
1938 – Mrs. A.E. Batchelor was the first person to drive the length of the new Overseas Highway, traveling from Miami to Key West. Mrs. Batchelor was accompanied by her husband, a concrete engineer on the project, and their three sons. The 169-mile-long, pioneering trek took place two days before the road was officially opened.
1941 – A letter written by Wm. R. Hackley in 1845, describing a local, 53-member Key West militia was discovered by Dr. William Warren and donated to the Key West Chamber of Commerce.
1951 – First Lieutenant Clyde Stickney, Commanding Officer of the Key West National Guard Unit, was notified that the unit would be called to active service in May. The 60-man unit was part of the 712th Anti-Aircraft Group.
1985 – The Key West City Commission, after touring the proposed sites, chose Fleming Key as the most desirable for the planned sewage treatment plant.
1999 – The U.S. Coast Guard launched a new buoy tender named in honor of Barbara Mabritty, one of Key West’s most famous lighthouse keepers. She took over as keeper of the Key West Lighthouse in 1832 when her husband died. She survived the Hurricane of 1846 and remained at the station until 1864, retiring at age 82.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Ruins of the Ruy Lopez Cigar Factory at Thompson and South streets. Jeff Brodhead Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.