Today in Key West History
by 43 Keys Media
Key West and the surrounding Florida Keys are rich in history dating back to the Spanish Conquistadors. Each day holds a new opportunity to learn about the significant historical events that happened in Key West and the Florida Keys. These bite sized podcasts are a great way to brush up on your historical facts about this beautiful coral cay archipelago paradise that we call home!
Episodes
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Key West History - Jan. 23, 1896 - Florida's Wealthiest Man Dies
Born in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas on Sept. 21, 1821, William Curry had always heard the tales of the fortunes that could be made in a nearby city call Key West. At the age of 15, Curry came to the island of Key West as a penniless immigrant, with nothing more than outsized ambition going for him....
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Key West History - Jan. 22, 1926 - The First Luxury Hotel Opens in Key West
Despite having decades in the late 1800's where Key West had the highest amount of wealth per-capita, as well as being the largest city in Florida, it wasn't until 1926 that Key West experienced its first taste of luxury. Having confirmed its status as a bonafide city by re-inventing itself after...
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Key West History - Jan. 21, 1880 - Ulysses S. Grant Visits Key West
If I described a leader as a failed business man - multiple times, someone who struggled with alcohol, a military man who couldn't stand the uniforms, and a novice politician, you'd probably think I was describing a failed leader who quickly fell off the pages of history. However, this…
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Key West History - Jan 18, 1912 - The Filming of Flagler's Railroad Journey
The dream of one man changed the isolation of the Florida Keys for all time. Henry Flagler was a native New Yorker and he was born in 1830. He only went to school up until the eighth grade. But later on, he went on to establish the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller - that was in 1870...
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Key West History - Jan 17, 1928 - Calvin Coolidge and His Wife Arrived in Key West
When President Donald Trump visited Key West late last year, it was the first time in nearly 55 years for a sitting US president to visit Key West. Prior to that, the last time was when John F. Kennedy stopped by to inspect the defenses of Key West and provide some positive publicity for South...
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Key West History - Jan. 15, 1971 - Finally a Conviction in the Murder of a Charter Boat Captain and His Son
Roger Foster, the 17 year old admitted killer of the charter boat, Dream Girls, two man crew was brought to us by a Coast Guard vessel and was immediately whisked away from the docks by FBI agents and Key West Police officers. The husky youth, wearing a t-shirt and pants stained with blood, was...
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Key West History - Jan. 12, 1952 - The Pink Shrimp "Gold Rush" in Key West
In late 1949, 100 years after the peak of the California Gold Rush, Pink Gold was discovered off the Florida Keys near Dry Tortugus. The “gold” was a grooved variety of shrimp called “pink” shrimp in the industry – scientifically Panaeus duorarum. In early 1950, the first shrimpers arrived in Key...
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Key West History - Jan. 11, 1926 - There's a Menace Terrorizing the City
There's a menace going on on the streets of Key West, as documented by the historic archive of the Key West citizen. And I quote, "Fully realizing that it is treading on sacred ground to interfere with the pleasures and pastimes of the little folks, The Citizen desires to call attention to the...
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January 10, 1861 - Key West Refuses to Secede from the Union
Key West was an awkward place to live when the Civil War broke out. The heavy military presence on the island meant that much of the island supported Union efforts, and with the critical Naval base fortified against capturing from the Confederacy, the island became even more firmly entrenched as…
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January 9, 1827 - Construction Starts on the First Sand Key Lighthouse
Sand key is situated next to a channel that leads to Key West. It's located roughly eight miles to the north west of Key West. In normal conditions, a significant amount of sand accumulates on the submerged reefs at Sand Key and it actually creates a small island. Soon after the United States…
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January 8, 1828 - Key West Is Incorporated as a City
Key West, like the other Florida Keys, began as a coral forest under the sea water. Marine life was its only population as the polar ice caps reformed and the sea level dropped. Terrestrial plant and animal life found its way. Soil was formed by decaying organic matter and storm actions. For...
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Key West History: December 26, 1923 - Reward Offered for Vandals of Yards in Key West
The Key West Citizen has received so many complaints recently about the willful destruction of plants and flowers in yards in the city, that it has decided to reward $25 for the arrest and conviction of anybody for committing such vandalism. A woman resident who used many hours of her time and...
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Key West History: Dec. 24, 1923 - Key West Declared a Port of Real Consequence
On December the 24th, 1923, this quote appeared in the Tampa Tribune. "Tampa is the nearest port of any real consequence in the United States to the Panama Canal." Soon after, there was a rebuttal printed in the Key West Citizen. "Either the tribune is ignorant of the fact that Key West is nearer...
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Key West History: Josè Marti Arrived for His First Visit to Key West
José Martí was born in Havana to Spanish immigrants in 1853. From a young age, he dedicated himself to the Cuban struggle for independence. During his life he visited Tampa 20 times, a place with strong ties to Cuba where he consolidated drive and advocacy to bring change to Cuba. Martí attended...
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Key West History: Dec. 21, 1975 - Key West Aloe Opened It's New Store and Factory
While vacationing in Key West in the 1960’s with his partner, Joe Lizska, Frank Romano made the terrible mistake of falling asleep on the beach. It’s a mistake many tourists to Key West make, not realizing how much closer Key West is to the equator than the mainland, and how much faster you get...
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Key West History: Dec. 20, 1996 - Key West's Grand Dame and Matriarch Dies
By the early 1970s, when the fabrics and designs of Lilly Pulitzer were retail and media darlings, Tony Falcone started coming to Key West with his partner, Bill Conkle. Eventually, they decided to open up a store. It was called Fast Buck Freddie's and it was on Key West's main drag, Duval…
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Today in Key West History - Dec. 18, 1955 - The Ferry from Key West to Havana Completed Testing
Now, more than 50 years after Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba it remains a mysterious forbidden and a foreign place. Few of us can picture a time when Cuba was a friendly neighbor of the United States, and a place for a quick weekend getaway. When Flagler's train reached Key West in 1912, some of...
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December 17, 1899 - More than a Year After The Sinking of the Maine, Bodies of Victims Were Recovered By the Military
The night seemed like any other. It was February 15th and the crew of the battleship Maine had been dispatched to Havana. In the evening, they were riding quietly at anchor in the Havana Harbor, everyone going about their duties and minding their own business, when suddenly at 9:40pm out of…
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December 15 - The Underwater Cable System Connection Key West to Havana was Started
From much of its early history, Key West stood in relative isolation due to the lack of regular mail service to the island, and the sporadic nature of the shipping supply channels which could easily be affected by storms and less than desirable weather. It wasn't until the end of the Civil War in...
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December 14 - The Contract for the Building of the Key West Custom House was Awarded
As Key West became increasingly wealthy, the four story architectural marvel known as the Custom House was built, and it is a perfect example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. It's easily one of the most beautiful buildings in Key West and the crown jewel of the island. Despite the...
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December 13 - Key Deer Were Hunted on Big Pine Key
On December 13, 1928, this small paragraph appeared in the Key West Citizen. "The Turtelino hunting crowd killed a large deer yesterday on No Name Key. The deer was killed by Eddie Marquez and weighed 90 pounds. Marquez is is the latest one of the crowd to meet success in the hunting expeditions...
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December 12 - Key West Had the Only English Wesleyan Methodist Church in the United States.
The congregation was originally known as the "Gulf of Mexico Mission with Cayo Hueso". The local history informs us that it was Reverend George Lister, who established the mission in Key West. It was seen as vital to extending the English Wesleyan Methodism to Cuba. While missionaries were sent…
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December 11 - The Search for Hoffa Comes to Key West!
On December the 9, 1961, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa was in Key West inspecting the once grand Casa Marina hotel. It was a hotel that the Teamsters had recently acquired. He later least the hotel to the US military, and it was used for military housing. Less than a year later, on November 26,...
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December 10 - Norman Sherwood Becomes The First Prisoner is Hanged from the Gallows in Key West
Norma Sherwood has the distinction of being the first man to the west. Sherwood had an altercation with a man named Jones on the 5th of July in 1830. After they were separated, he went away but returned in an hour with the pistol, allowing his intention of killing Jones bystanders interfered and...
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December 9 - The Shark Processing Industry Comes to Big Pine Key
Joe Whalton recalls that a visit to the shark camp on Big Pine Key was a favorite activity during his boyhood stays at a nearby family vacation retreat. "The place was close enough that we could see it and smell it. There were times it was really ripe. A whole bunch of us would pull our schull a...
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December 8 - Fernando Joaquin Moreno Was Elected Mayor of Key West
There's nothing but saying there today. But 140 years ago, nearly 300 Africans were buried on what is now Higgs beach victims of slavery. It was 1858 and us warships had been ordered to enforce the anti slave trade laws. Five ships patrolled the Florida straits or slave merchants, for the tobacco...
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December 7 - Reap The Wild Wind Author Moves Near the Southernmost Point
As the film opens, Loxie Claiborne is running a marine salvage business started by her deceased father. A hurricane is passing through the Key West area leaving behind at least one wreck on the nearby shoals. The Jubilee founders and Loxie and other salvagers race to claim the cargo. Not arriving...
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December 6 - Blue Angels Announce Key West as Their Winter Training Destination
At the end of World War II Chief Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval aviation. In a short three months, the naval flight exhibit team performed at its first flight demonstration on June 15, 1946 at...
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December 5 - Artist Henry Faulkner Dies at the Hands of a Drunk Driver
Today's nugget of Key West history comes to us from a blog post by artist, Anja Marais. I'm living on a quaint lane in Old Town Key West for the last six years in a wooden Victorian house. My first impression walking in as a tenant to be was the good feeling that just oozed out of the Dade County...
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December 4 - Eduardo H. Gato Died in Havana, Cuba
The first Gato cigar factory is a three story building constructed in 1870, the first for the fact that was used for receiving tobacco and distributing scars. The second story consisted of rows and rows of benches, and rolling tables, where workers produced a wide range of cigars in front of the...
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December 2 - The Cuban Boat Lift from Matanzas Bay Ended
In 1965, Fidel Castro, facing growing political unrest, and widespread economic problems, seize the initiative on refugees by manipulating US immigration policy to his advantage, knowing that the US open door policy made it politically awkward if not impossible to refuse refugees from Cuba…
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Nov. 29 - The Start of Something Beautiful Called Casa Roma
A few days ago, I came across a historic fact mentioning that today, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was staying at the Casa Roma Motel as he recuperated from cancer. I’d never heard of the Casa Roma Motel and became curious as to why I could not find much information about this old and...
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Tuesday, Nov. 27 - Dr. Joseph Yates Porter Ends the Yellow Fever Quarantine
Yellow Fever, also known as the yellow plague, or the yellow jack was one of the most dangerous and dreaded disease is prevalent in Florida. During the 1800s, the diseases viral and we now know that it's spread primarily by a certain type of mosquito, but this wasn't known back then. And in the...
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Nov. 26 - The Biggest and Richest City in Florida - Welcome to Key West
Location, location, location. It's the cry of any good businessman. In 1825, the Federal wrecking act prescribed that all property record in US waters be taken to a US port of entry. It was in 1828, that Key West was designated one of these us ports of entries. POS grew from a desolate Island…
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Nov. 24 - Alligator Reef Lighthouse Opens
In 1822, just two years out of the shipyard, the Navy schooner was on rounds to recapture and free ships that were taken in the pirate heavy seas of the Caribbean. And alligator reef, a notoriously difficult area to navigate, the young ship ran aground. The semen struggled desperately to save it,...
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Nov. 20 - Skiing to Cuba
Prior to September 10, 1978, the furthest training run that Charles McCoy had ever under taken was a successful 80 mile non-stop crossing to the Dry Tortugas. That run took him 3 hours and 55 minutes. But on Sept. 10th, 1978, his successful crossing to Cuba from Key West of over 110 miles took 6...
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Nov. 19 - Charles Parra Gets Elected to City Commission in a Runoff Election
On Tuesday, February 10, 1942 on the front page of the Key West citizen, there's a small article talking about the local labor union.Now the labor union in question was the local Mason and bricklayers union. There was some elections that were being held for new officers for the labor union. There...
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Nov. 18 - Captain Tony's Bar Becomes "On Limits" to Navy Personnel
Anthony was born on August 10, 1916 in Elizabeth New Jersey. His father was an immigrant who made his living as a bootlegger during these times of Prohibition. By the time Anthony was heading into high school, he decided his time would be better spent making whiskey and selling it to his Father’s...
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Nov.13, 1948 - President Truman Sails the Williamsburg to the Dry Tortugas
November 13, 1948 On March 19th, 1930 - A steel-hulled diesel powered yacht began construction at the Bath Iron Works. The yacht was finished and launched on Dec, 8, 1930 and delivered to its owner, wood-pulp magnate Hugh J. Chisholm. The yacht was names Aras and it was more than 243 feet long…
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Nov. 12 - Dr. Joseph Norman Fogarty was Re-Elected as Key West Mayor
If you've ever been to Key West, you may have eaten at the famous Fogarty's Restaurant. Like everything and everyone in Key West, that place has a history. It's all tied to Dr. Joseph Fogarty, who was a 6 term Mayor of Key West. Today in 1907, he was re-elected as Key West Mayor.
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Nov. 7 - Jennie Bethel DeBoer and the Key West Lighthouse Legacy
Let's take a look at what happened today in Key West history. November the seventh 1983, a lady by the name of Jennie Bethel DeBoer - she died at the age of 97 in Key West. Now, she was one of the children of one of the last keepers of the Key West lighthouse. She grew up at the lighthouse. Her...
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Nov. 8th - Truman Makes His 5th Visit to Key West to Record Crowds
Today in Key West history, we're talking about the focal point of one of Harry Truman's visits to Key West and it was the Truman Little White House. Now, if you'll remember correctly, the Truman Little White House was originally built as officers quarters for the submarine base on the Naval Air...
About this show
Key West and the surrounding Florida Keys are rich in history dating back to the Spanish Conquistadors. Each day holds a new opportunity to learn about the significant historical events that happened in Key West and the Florida Keys. These bite sized podcasts are a great way to brush up on your historical facts about this beautiful coral cay archipelago paradise that we call home!
Hosted by
43 Keys Media