Box factory on Caroline Street in the 1920s
1906 – John Lowe, Jr. had wholesale and retail lumber, groceries, ship chandlery and marine railway at the corner of Greene and Elizabeth streets.
1911 – Norberg Thompson opened the Key West Box Factory for the manufacture of boxes for the cigar industry of Key West. The factory was capable of producing 7,000 boxes a day from wood imported from Cuba.
1933 – The new lighthouse on Tennessee Reef was lighted for the first time. The new light was 40 feet above mean high water and could be seen for 15 miles.
1933 – The U.S. Army denied published reports that it intended to abandon Fort Taylor and the Key West Barracks.
1936 – The Interstate Commerce Commission approved a request by the Florida East Coast Railroad to abandon the Overseas Railroad. This action clears the way to build a highway over the old bridges.
1937– Captain Philip Cosgrove retired after 47 years with the Lighthouse Service. He was master of the Lighthouse tender Ivy at the time of his retirement.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library
Image: Cigar box factory at 801 Caroline St., Key West, in the 1920s. Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/4528146703