Tuesday, March 5, 2013

ON THIS DAY IN:

1855 Northwest Channel Lighthouse was first lighted.

1902 Governor William S. Jennings appointed Eugene W. Russell Key West tax collector to replace George G. Watson, who died on Feb. 24.

1911 The commandant of the U.S. Naval Station was Captain E.E. Hayden. His chief clerk was F.R. Maloney and the paymaster was W.H. Doherty.

1911Samuel J. Wolf was the post commander of Company I Florida National Guard at the Armory on White and Southard streets.

1948 President Harry Truman left for a flight back to Washington, after a 10-day visit to Key West. When he left, he said, "I'll be back here if I can make it."

1949 President Harry Truman arrived to vacation in Key West at the Little White House.

1961 The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church officially organized as a congregation of the United Lutheran Church. The congregation had 70 adults and 46 children.

1964 The Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract of $1,987,209 to Bauer Dredging Co. to deepen and enlarge Key West Harbor. The Corps also awarded a $1,431,685 contract to Acme Missiles and Construction Corporation to build a missile assembly building at the Nike-Hercules facility on Key Largo.

1974 George Halas, star of the 1973 Key West football team, was named to the Prep All-America Football team by Coach and Athlete Magazine.

1983 Key West resident and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tennessee Williams was buried in St. Louis.

1986 The Key West City Commission approved a plan to build a sewage treatment plant on 10 acres of land leased from the Navy on Fleming Key. The projected cost was $25.2 million.