1865 – George Davis, Attorney General of the Confederate States, was arrested at Key West by U.S. Deputy Marshal Benjamin Kerr and turned over to the commanding officer of U.S. Naval forces on the island. Davis was then sent to Fort Lafayette in New York.
1946 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations, departed for Washington after having inspected the Key West Naval Base. Nimitz was particularly interested in the base’s anti-submarine activities and paid compliments to the efforts being done.
1947 – George L. Wilson, Key West’s oldest resident, died at 102. Wilson was born on the island in 1845, and he spent much of his life working on the water. Wilson had long run the mailboat to Coconut Grove.
1951 – Key West city commissioners offered Key West Improvement, Inc. $100,000 for 160 acres of the company’s 264-acre Meacham Field airport property. The goal was to establish a publicly owned airport in the city.
1961— Ground was broken for a new Key West City Hall on Angela Street at the corner of Simonton Street.
1966 – The Islamorada Branch of the Monroe County Public Library was officially opened.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Aerial view of Key West International Airport and East Martello, ca. 1950. Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.