20 Years ago

[Bobcat]

1941 Mom's Tea Room near Fort Taylor was raided and three women arrested for prostitution.

1968 The Pier House Motel at Duval-on-the-Gulf opened for business. The 50-room motel was developed by David Wolkowsky.

1979 Workers redigging a well at 902 Whitehead St. found gold estimated to be worth about $1,000. The gold was believed to be melted-down coins.

 

[old377guy]

"Go (to key) west, young man, thar's gold in them thar holes........!" - yeah, I know, I'm merging quotes...

 

[Bobcat]

1942 German submarine U-508 sank the Santiago de Cuban and Manzanillo about 15 miles south of Key West. The two ships were part of a convoy that sailed from Key West and were loaded with newly developed radio equipment destined for a base in the Caribbean.

1969 Two Army Green Berets drowned off the Naval Air Station at Boca Chica in a training acciden

 

[Bobcat]

ON THIS DAY IN:

1861 No vessels were allowed to leave Key West unless the owners and crew first took the oath of allegiance to the Union.




1945 Captain Herbert Pinder towed a 20-foot sperm whale into port. He had harpooned it while returning from the Dry Tortugas.

1952 The body of Karl Tanzler aka Dr. Count Von Cosel was found in his home in Zephyrhills, Fla. He was 76 and had died of natural causes. He had gained notoriety when it was discovered he had lived with decomposing body of Elena Hoyos for more than eight years. He met Elena when he treated her at the Marine Hospital Key West. After her death, he had taken her body to his home in Key West. After the body was discovered, he left town and moved to Zephyrhills.



1980 An Air Florida flight from Key West to Miami was hijacked and taken to Havana. The plane and passengers were returned to Miami unharmed.


Count Carl Tanzler von Cosel at his building on Flagler Av. C 1940. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection in the Otto Hirzel Scrapbook.

 

[Bobcat]

1987 Scenes for the television miniseries on the life of Ernest Hemingway were being filmed at the Hemingway House, Land Ends Mariner and on the water off Key West

 

[Bobcat]

1954 Key West Police Chief Bienvenido Perez announced a full-scale cleanup on Duval Street. Police raided two Duval Street bars and arrested two strip-dancers, the owner of one bar and the manager of another.

 

[Bobcat]

This could explain the Cubs curse.....and the start of renaming things with an "Artsy" sound.


1950 Residents of Billygoat Alley petitioned the city to change the street name to Hibiscus Lane, which was approved by City Manager Dave King.

 

[old377guy]

and so it begins.............

 

[Bobcat]

1992 Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, causing extensive damage. The storm downed power lines and trees in the Upper Keys and heavily damaged the Ocean Reef area.

 

[Ratickle]

Did you ride it out then?

 

[Bobcat]

In Illinois.

 

[Bobcat]

The base of this is still visible in the NW passage. Cool old photo.

1971 The abandoned lighthouse at the entrance to the Northwest Channel, frequently referred to as having been used by Ernest Hemingway, was destroyed by fire.

Light station marking the northwest passage to Key West. Automated in 1911 and deactivated in 1971. Fifth order Fresnel lens. It is known locally as the Hemingway House on the Water or Hemingway Stilts based on the legend that Ernest Hemingway used to own or fish from the structure. The Ida Woodward Barron Collection.

 

[Bobcat]

Old Postcard pushing for height restrictions in the Florida Keys. That's Pigeon Key with a mega condo. (1973)

 

[Ratickle]

Old Postcard pushing for height restrictions in the Florida Keys. That's Pigeon Key with a mega condo. (1973)

View attachment 76319

Not real, correct?

 

[Bobcat]

Propaganda. (that worked)

 

[old377guy]

ok, now I get it.

 

[Ratickle]

I like Pigeon Key, but you'd have zero privacy and quiet if you lived there. At least the new bridge doesn't go directly over it.....

 

[Bobcat]

This would have been expensive.

1959 The County Commission voted to ask the State Road Department to allocate $25,000 for a survey to determine the feasibly of the construction of a highway from Big Pine Key to Cape Sable on the southwest coast of Florida.

 

[Bobcat]

1935 The most intense hurricane to hit the United States passed over Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. The Category 5 storm had a barometer reading of 26.35 and winds estimated at 200 mph with tides 18 to 20 feet above normal. The storm killed nearly 400 people and ended the bankrupt Overseas Railroad.

1958 Hurricane Ella brought gale force winds across the Keys as high as 55 mph, damaging trailers on Stock Island.

1979 Hurricane David passed east of Key West with little local effect. For the first time, on Sept. 1, the governor recommended all residents of the Florida Keys evacuate because of the potential effects of a hurricane.

 

[Bobcat]

1950 Hurricane Easy passed to the west of Key West where the maximum winds of 72 mph were recorded.

1952 The city of Key West took possession of Mallory Dock when Mayor C.B. Harvey presented a check for $25,000 to Gulf Atlantic Transportation Co.

1953 The secretary of the Navy issued reprimands to Rear Admiral Irving T. Duke, former commander Naval Base Key West, and Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Berry, former legal officer, for their mishandling of the investigation into the Charity Carnival stag show that turned into a sex orgy.

1960 Locals were interviewed for parts in the movie "All Fall Down," part of which was filmed in Key West.