1894 – A hurricane that had traveled the length of Cuba passed over Key West where winds were clocked at 104 mph with slight damage.
1899 – Over 600 cases of yellow fever had now been reported at Key West, and officials believed that might be half of the true total. Though there had been 35 deaths, the general feeling was that this strain of the fever was relatively mild, even if it was difficult to eradicate.
1918 – The Key West Citizen mused over women’s suffrage in an editorial: “When the women take over the county offices, the cuspidors will go out of the court houses. With a woman judge on the bench, the lawyers will have to quit smoking. And with women councilmen we may expect ordinances making it a misdemeanor to wear a dirty shirt or come downtown unshaven. There is considerably more to this woman suffrage question beyond what appears on the surface.”
1934 – Henry Ogden fishing from Porter Dock at the north end of Duval Street caught a goliath grouper that measured seven feet and two inches long and weighed 485 pounds.
1946 – Col. James Hammond and associates from Memphis, Tennessee, purchased Key West’s Casa Marina from the Florida East Coast Hotel Company. It was hoped the hotel would be remodeled and opened by Christmas Eve, but the new owners could not guarantee the date.
1955 – Gardner Cowles, president of Look Magazine, and his associate, David Salzman, bought a 182-acre tract of land on Cudjoe Key for $83,000.
1998 – Hurricane Georges, a category three hurricane, swept across the Lower Keys and Key West. It caused flooding, damaged many homes, and destroyed much of Key West’s famed Houseboat Row.
1999 – The USCGC Barbara Mabrity was in Key West for the weekend. The ship was named the woman keeper of the Key West Lighthouse for 38 years.
2003 – Representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation met with Marathon residents to gather input on the rehabilitation of the Old Seven Mile Bridge. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic on the span to Pigeon Key had been limited since a 2002 survey revealed significant deterioration.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Wreckage from Houseboat Row after Hurricane Georges. From the Dale McDonald Collection.. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.