1822 – Excerpt from the Logbook of the U.S. Schooner Shark LCDR M.C. Perry commanding. Remarks, Saturday, September 14th No important events this day. The wind has at last assumed the appearance of a steady Trade, and altho’ it is at present well to the Southward yet we may reasonably expect it to haul gradually to the Northward. Lat. 25.03 N. Long. 34.25 W. On the Sick List 8. Expenditure of Water 81 1/4 Gallons, Remains on Board 2830 Gallons. Exp. Provisions 72 lbs. Pork, 167 lbs. Bread, 4 1/2 Gls. Bean, 4 1/2 Gls. Vinegar, 4 1/2 Gls. Spirits.
1861 – Robert Watson left Key West on the schooner Lady Bannerman for the Bahamas from where he would go to Tampa to join the Southern cause which he would record in his “Confederate War Diary.”
1876 – St. James Missionary Baptist Church was founded by Reverend McIntosh and few Blacks who settled in Key West from other areas of the South.
1931 – Fire Chief Ralph Pinder resigned and was replaced by Harry Baker. Pinder resigned over the friction caused by the firemen not getting paid. He urged them to remain on the job until the city could work out its financial difficulties.
1944 – Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph finished distribution of 2,993 copies of the new phone directory. The number of directories were restricted because of the war time shortage of paper.
1945 – The population from the 1945 Florida State Census for Monroe County was 18,718 of which 17,774 lived in Key West.
1945 – Radio station WKWF, owned by John Spottswood, began its first broadcast giving hurricane warnings every 15 minutes with Spottswood as the announcer.
1975 – Abraham E. Golan died while on vacation in Italy. In 1949 Golan, Vincent Conley and Charles Helberg bought most of the eastern end of Key West. He had built the Key Ambassador Motel on South Roosevelt and the Ramada Inn on North Roosevelt.
1976 – County Commissioner Harry Harris, who lost his bid for re-election, submitted his resignation to the Governor. Harris was first elected to the commission in 1942.
1988 – Little Palm Island luxury resort off Little Torch Key opened for business.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library
Image: John Spottswood and Kermit Lewin at WKWF, circa 1950. Jeff Broadhead Collection, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/8100646496