Monday, March 11, 2013

ON THIS DAY IN:

1853Bowne and Curry successfully tested a marine railway that was capable of lifting vessels weighing 500 tons.

1907 The 28th annual meeting of the Florida Press Association was held in Key West.

1909 Upton Sinclair, author of "The Jungle," was ill in the Louise Maloney Hospital. He was a passenger on the Mallory steamship Alamo, from Galveston to New York, when he was taken ill. After a few days of rest, he was released and sailed for New York.

1911 The sheriff of Monroe County was Cement Jaycocks. The deputy sheriffs were P.L. Jaycock, chief deputy Harry Baker and Edmund T. Crittenden.

1948 Secretary of Defense and the chiefs of the three military services arrived in Key West and stayed at the Little White House.

1954 Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, arrived at the naval station for an overnight stay.

1955 The new Southernmost Motel on Duval and South streets had 28 of its planned 50 units open, with the rest near completion. The motel, owned by Ben and Aaron Mazur, had a 25-by-50-foot swimming pool.