1839 – It was reported that Key West “and its neighborhood” were strongly supportive of Charles Downing of St. Augustine for Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Florida Territory.
1863 – Admiral Theodorus Bailey wrote from Key West that the Navy’s capture and delivery of so many Confederate blockade runners “has thrown a great number of prisoners upon our hands. We have no fit place to confine them…therefore it became necessary to release them and they are now at large on the island.”
1904 – Men were clearing and grading from Miami for a southern railroad extension, and the news was creating a land boom on Key Largo. Some farmers were turning down offers for their land in hopes that prices would increase further.
1908 – Rev. J.D. Frierson held church services at the Quarry on Umbrella Key (Windley Key). There was a large attendance.
1974 – The Monroe County Commission heard an offer from Key Largo realtor Joseph T. Lance, on behalf of an anonymous client, proposing the donation of an 840-foot beachfront property on Lower Matecumbe Key for use as a public park.
1980 – More than 250 fishermen protested at the federal building on Simonton Street over the federal government’s seizure of their boats for taking part in the Mariel Cuban Boatlift.
1987 – General Rafael del Pino Diaz, a top-ranking Cuban Air Force officer, defected from Cuba and landed with his family the Naval Air Station in a small private plane.
1994 – The San Carlos Institute held a special 80th birthday celebration for Benildes Remond Sánchez who had spent 25 years at the Key West institution as both a teacher and principal.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The dedication of the San Carlos Institute as a Literary Landmark on January 16, 1994. From left Joe Garrido, Rafael Penalver, Benildes Remond Sánchez, Monica Haskell and Arturo Espinola. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.