1863 – Two prisoners at Fort Jefferson attempted to escape from the Dry Tortugas on a floating plank. The water was rough, and they did not make it far before a vessel went out and retrieved them.
1924 – A Thompson Fish Company boat arrived at Key West from Spanish Harbor with 15,000 pounds of mackerel and kingfish. Great schools of large fish were seen, and a rich season was anticipated.
1933 – The Civil Works Council allotted $30,000 for the construction of a municipal aquarium at Key West. The plans for the facility would be donated by the Philadelphia Aquarium, and construction would start as soon as practicable.
1934 – E.K. Ludington applied to the War Department for permission to improve his Plantation Key property with a marine railway, a 300-foot timber pier, and a breakwater.
1940 – The Monroe County Association of Social Workers met and discussed local juvenile delinquency. They viewed the lack of proper facilities for mental and medical problems, a lack of adult understanding, and a lack of training for young people in mental and social hygiene, as contributing to youthful misbehavior in the Keys.
1954 – An era in Key West history ended when the sponging vessel Ella Collins was beached and abandoned. The 26-foot boat was the last of the sponge fleet that once numbered more than 100. The Ella Collins was built in 1902 at Big Pine Key by William Henry Sands, who used native dogwood and yellow pine. Captain Nelson Spencer, 75, had bought the vessel from the builder for $400.
1970 – Four East German men jumped from a Havana-bound ship as it passed by American Shoals. In a pre-arranged plan, the brother of one of the men, a Chicago resident, was waiting with a rented boat and pulled the Germans from the water. The refugees were delivered to the Coast Guard base at Key West, where they asked for asylum.
1983 – Environmental activist Billy Kahn completed a walk from Tallahassee to the Florida Keys to protest the construction of the Port Bougainville condominium project on North Key Largo. Kahn was joined by 93-year-old environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and both spoke against the development. The day was also recognized as Marjory Stoneman Douglas Day, an honor bestowed by the Monroe County Commission.
Information compiled by the late Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The sponge fleet at the dock in Key West C 1910. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center