Despite heavy action this week as we turned from Chapter One to the Final Chapter of The Dark Side: Mystery, Crime, and the Literary Thriller, we found a few quiet moments to troll our favorite fishing hole for highlights of Key West crimes and punishments past. All images courtesy Monroe County Public Library; click through for full-size versions.
Weapons, cash, ammunition, and playing cards seized during a gambling raid on the Rock in Marathon. Wright Langley Collection, Monroe County Public Library.
A Florida Highway Patrol Officer and his car in Key West circa 1950. Monroe County Library Collection.
Fire Chief Bum Farto and Capt. Earl Ingraham sitting at the radio desk of the Fire Department in August 1968. Gift Alex Vega, Monroe County Public Library. Farto was later charged with drug-related offenses and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
A gambling raid at the Sports Center, 513 1/2 Fleming Street, circa 1960. Wright Langley Collection, Monroe County Public Library.
A gambling raid at the High Hat Club, circa 1960. Wright Langley Collection, Monroe County Public Library.
Two Key West policemen with the Accident Prevention Squad car and an early blood-alcohol testing kit, circa 1950. Jeff Brodhead Collection, Monroe County Public Library.
The inside of the cell of the Monroe County Jail on Whitehead Street, circa 1970. Monroe County Library Collection.
Florida East Coast Hotels Casa Marina with Key West Police Officers Jimmy James and Buster Cerezo. Jeff Broadhead Collection, Monroe County Public Library.
Key West Literary Seminar welcomes readers and writers to this subtropical island city. Our flagship program is the annual Seminar, a four-day event that explores a unique literary theme each January, where readers from around the world enjoy presentations by some of the best writers of our time. In our Writers’ Workshop Program, also in January, writers of all levels meet in small groups with esteemed faculty to share their work and explore the craft of writing. A Scholarship Program reduces fees for teachers and librarians and recognizes the work of outstanding emerging writers. Exclusive recordings from the Seminar spanning thirty years are available in the Audio Archive, while our online journal, Littoral, features news, essays, photographs, and other resources that document Key West’s rich literary history.
A diversity of life thrives in the littoral zone — a thin strip of coastline between high and low watermarks. As the operating metaphor for our online journal, it refers to that part of Key West routinely overrun by the tide of literature and to the rich life of letters in this island city. Here you’ll find event coverage from our team of writers and photographers; news and updates about upcoming opportunities; and rare images from historic collections, interviews, and all manner of report from Key West’s life of letters.