Friday, March 1, 2013

ON THIS DAY IN:

1898 The Naval Court of Inquiry, in the sinking of the Battleship Maine, met at the Key West Custom House. The members of the court were Capt. French E. Chadwick, Capt. William T. Sampson, Lt. Cmdr. Adolph Marix and Lt. Cmdr. William P. Potter.

1933 Charles S. Williams, postmaster of Key West, died at the Marine Hospital, Key West.

1946 Stephen Cochran Singleton retired as manager of the Key West Chamber of Commerce and was succeeded by John M. Spottswood.

1951 The state hotel commissioner reported Monroe County had 924 motel and 738 hotel rooms.

1957Gov. and Mrs. Marvin Griffin of Georgia were in Key West fishing as guests of Mr. and Mrs. Hilario Ramos.

1970 Four Navy men, George Porter, Andrew Ratiff, Larry Nixon Jr. and Joseph Carter, were fishing in a small boat when a cold front passed over the Keys, and they did not return home. An extensive search by the Coast Guard and Navy found no trace of them.

1996 The USS L.Y. Spear, with a crew of 800, arrived for a week's visit. After the ship was notified that it would be decommissioned later in the year, the crew was asked where they wanted to go for their last liberty port and they chose Key West.