Today in Keys History

Photo taken by the Property Appraiser’s office in 1965 of Padron’s Grocery, 800 Whitehead St., which was destroyed by fire in 1975.

 Photo provided by Monroe County Library

1837: Capt. Hiram Benner of the wrecking schooner United States reported at Indian Key that he had found a submerged, dismasted vessel near the Cape Florida lighthouse with a cargo of mahogany, cochineal and hides. The body of a man and parts of other bodies were in the hold. It was supposed the vessel was Spanish and had been lost a month previously.

1875: The commandant of troops at Key West reported that two cases of yellow fever were found on the island and that he had moved his men to another locality beyond the reach of the disease.