The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-09-19
esperate Economic Plight Of Key West Grim Days Of The cs
Almost Forgotten In The Unprecedented Prosperity Of The t

hotel downtown. snaIl but con
for,abls: . couple Of nsw sehoOl
houses. . boulevard round the Is.
land. q motor road down the Keys,
ard Q lot Of headaches.
For the city borrowed . mi.
lion and a hall to build the boule-
ward. the county borrowed four
million 10 build the Overseas High.
way. and then the boom blsw up
The resal, was that two Ions street.
ehes where the road would have
had 10 be carried over deep water
had TO be covered By ferries. be.
cause the county could not raise
the eight o. ten million dollars tina,
would have been needed 10 build
bridges. Failure 20 build those
bridges vas the luekiess thing that
ever happened 10 Key West. II
they had been there when the road
opened In 1875 the town would have
attracted swarms Of motor tour.
lists: and ths civic boosters Of those
DAYS were al set 10 make the
place over into what the ordinary
tourist wants - q small and un-
covering initiation Of Miami - for
getting that Key West always has
been and always vii be . place
for the extraordinary tourists. But
the long. slow ferry trip cut the
tourist traffic down 10 . triekle -
and thus provided Key West with
q priceless excuse. When hard
times came knocking at the door
most Of the citizens simply sat
back and said that everything
would be all right II only State
or Federal Government would
build their bridges for them.
The general depression super.
vened on particular depressions
that beset Key West. The cigar
factories that once supported ten
thousand people had had labor trou.
bles. and moved 10 Tampa or the
North; Key West sponge fishers
were unable 20 meet the eompeti.
ton Of the Greeks Of Tarp0n
Springs: the collapse Of the Cuban
sugar boom ended the heavy ex.
ports Of machinery and imports OF
sugar which had made up most OF
the business Of the port. The Navy
Yard and submarine base and the
forts that protected them. lost their
belevanee when the center Of In
ternationAl tension shifted 10 the
Pacific, and were reduced 10 skele-
ton maintenance garrisons. Sudden
ly Key West discovered that most
Of its industries we're gone. and
that there was small likelihood Of
their ever coming back.
when I saw the town In March
1894. half the population was living
on the Civil Works Administration
- but living. a. the old hymn puts
u. at . poor dying rate: and Of
the Jobs they were working Of only
one, the building Of an aquarium.
had any civic utility. As Tor eiti.
Eens not on relief. they seemed 10
be living mostly by selling rum %
one another. The Casa Marina was
closed; la COneha had some tour.
lists. but they could only drink rum
and enjoy the climate. A town with
miles Of ocean front and the finest
Of sea bathing had no lighthouses,
no equipped bathing beach. Key
West not only was broke but. as
one Of It's eventual Fescuers put Il.
had lapsed into q state Of mass
melaneholia. BY May. twO-thirds Of
the population were on relief,
where upon julius p. Stone. Jr..
Florida Emergency Relief Admin.
lstrator, who had nevsr seen Key
West before. decided 10 90 down
there and see what could be done
about Il.
''ssons hsppsnsd 10 be ere %
Ire psepls vino cen appreciate
key West end Ne Cell IN lsvs
with Ire plsss % sight. People
will Tell YsV thss Ne hes made
shls nlsssks end fhss; bVs " hs
he'd nes fallen IN levs with n $50
ard " cevegnsV osve sholsl,
whe served there IN ere army
dvElnu ire War. he'd not shared