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95-560: The common thread running through the various incarnations dating back 128 years is Walter Willard Thompson, who gained prominence as the editor of the historic weekly Key of the Gulf . Born in Key West, Florida in 1875, Thompson began his newspaper career as a carrier at age 12, becoming the editor of the third incarnation of the Key of the Gulf shortly before the turn of the century. This paper

190-462: A $ 75,000 ($ 201,000 in current dollar terms) annual stipend, a Jaguar , and the use for five years of an apartment in the Watergate complex. Cooke's lawyer Milton Gould said: "This is a conspiracy to try to use a little kid as a means of getting money. Well, we're not going to abandon this child. She will get money but the woman doesn't deserve any...there have been few courtesans in the history of

285-715: A Goss Community press and a new computer system that brought The Citizen in line with the rest of the newspaper world. The next few years were ones of heady expansion. Through the 1990s, Thomson acquired five small weeklies in Big Pine Key, Islamorada and Key Largo and rechristened them the Free Press Community Newspapers, part of the larger Thomson Florida Keys Media Group. By the late 1990s, Thomson, in keeping with its growing emphasis on electronic publishing, snapped up Global Audience Providers, and created keysnews.com and floridakeys.com to serve

380-524: A U.S. businessman John W. Simonton, during a meeting in a Havana café on January 19, 1822, for the equivalent of $ 2,000 in pesos in 1821. Geddes tried in vain to secure his rights to the property before Simonton who, with the aid of some influential friends in Washington, was able to gain clear title to the island. Simonton had wide-ranging business interests in Mobile, Alabama . He bought the island because

475-586: A career in managing, offering him the post for the Leafs. In 1964, Anderson accepted the offer. Cooke was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1960, Cooke lost a bid to obtain a licence for the first privately owned TV station in Toronto. There had been nine bids in a highly competitive process, and the licence was awarded to a consortium of Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting and

570-540: A college education due to the Great Depression , was a longtime supporter of the UNCF . He was described as a lover of the written word, and his commitment explicitly sought to "support the dreams of the next generation of big thinkers that came from challenging backgrounds, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, or national origin." In February 2007, his daughter Jacqueline filed a $ 275 million lawsuit against

665-534: A forum for debate within an often fractious community, and high-quality printed and electronic news products that can be accessed from around the world. The Citizen added a Saturday edition in 2003 to publish seven days a week. It updated and redesigned its Web site, keysnews.com, in 2008. It remains the only daily newspaper published in the Florida Keys . In 2018, Adams Publishing Group acquired Cooke Communications. Key West, Florida Key West

760-532: A friend, John Whitehead, had drawn his attention to the opportunities presented by the island's strategic location. John Whitehead had been stranded in Key West after a shipwreck in 1819 and he had been impressed by the potential offered by the deep harbor of the island. The island was indeed considered the " Gibraltar of the West" because of its strategic location on the 90-mile (140 km)–wide deep shipping lane,

855-449: A girl who was named Jacqueline Kent Cooke. In her divorce action, where her lawyers used the child as a "wedge", Martin sought $ 15 million (equivalent to $ 40 million in 2023) from Cooke, plus $ 18,000 ($ 48,000 in current dollar terms) a month in alimony and child support. In Fauquier County Circuit Court, a judge rejected Martin's request that he ignore the prenuptial agreement, and improve her financial settlement in which she received

950-758: A job selling encyclopedias. At the end of his first day, he took home over $ 20 to his mother, and later claimed, "I think that was the proudest moment of my life." He later became a runner on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange . He was selling soap in Northern Ontario for Colgate-Palmolive in 1936 when he met Roy Thomson , who hired Cooke to run radio station CJCS in Stratford, Ontario . The two became partners in 1941, buying radio stations and newspapers in Ontario and Quebec . With

1045-587: A landfill at Trumbo Point for his railyards. The 1919 Florida Keys hurricane caused catastrophic damage to the area. On December 25, 1921, Manuel Cabeza was lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan for living with a black woman. Pan American Airlines was founded in Key West, originally to fly visitors to Havana, in 1926. The airline contracted with the United States Postal Service in 1927 to deliver mail to and from Cuba and

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1140-472: A new paper, the six-day-per-week afternoon edition Key West Citizen was formed through the amalgamation of the weekly Citizen and the Inter-Ocean . Each founding publisher was allotted a one-third interest in the new company, Citizen Publishing. This arrangement continued until 1912, the year the railroad finally arrived in Key West. By then, Walter Thompson had decided to leave newspapers entirely and

1235-454: A related heart condition", at 26, in January 1989. On October 31, 1980, Cooke married Jeanne Maxwell Williams, a sculptor from Las Vegas. The marriage lasted 10 months. It ended with a $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 3 million in 2023) divorce settlement. Cooke's third marriage on July 24, 1987, to Suzanne Elizabeth Martin, a college dropout aged 31 at the time and 43 years his junior,

1330-588: A shark cage. The earliest Key West neighborhoods, on the western part of the island, are broadly known as Old Town . The Key West Historic District includes the major tourist destinations of the island, including Mallory Square , Duval Street, the Truman Annex , and Fort Zachary Taylor . Old Town is where the classic bungalows and guest mansions are found. Bahama Village , southwest of Whitehead Street, features houses, churches, and sites related to its Afro-Bahamian history. The Meadows , lying northeast of

1425-491: A small paper called The Citizen appeared as a weekly, but only lasted for a few months before being bought by Walter Thompson's cousin, Thomas Treason Thompson, and his business partner, Macy B. Darnall. The pair changed the name to the Key West Citizen and continued to operate it as a weekly newspaper. By 1906, both camps decided they should consolidate all their newspaper holdings and, on November 1 of that year,

1520-526: Is 130 miles (210 km) southwest of Miami by air, about 165 miles (266 km) by road. Key West is approximately 95 miles (153 km) north of Cuba at their closest points, and 106 miles (171 km) north-northeast of Havana . The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County , which includes a majority of the Florida Keys and part of the Everglades . The total land area of

1615-404: Is an important year-round training site for naval aviation due to the tropical weather, which is also the reason Key West was chosen as the site of President Harry S. Truman 's Winter White House . The central business district is located along Duval Street and includes much of the northwestern corner of the island. At various times before the 19th century, people who were related or subject to

1710-582: Is an island in the Straits of Florida , within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key , Fleming Key , Sunset Key , and the northern part of Stock Island , it constitutes the City of Key West . The island of Key West is about 4 miles (6 kilometers) long and 1 mile (2 km) wide, with a total land area of 4.2 square miles (11 km ). Within Florida, it

1805-465: Is said that the island was littered with the remains (bones) of prior native inhabitants, who used the isle as a communal graveyard. This island was the westernmost Key with a reliable supply of water. Between 1763, when Great Britain took control of Florida from Spain, and 1821, when the United States took possession of Florida from Spain, there were few or no permanent inhabitants anywhere in

1900-620: Is the main street in Key West and is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length in its 14-block-long crossing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean. Key West is closer to Havana (about 106 miles or 171 kilometers by air or sea) than it is to Miami (130 miles or 210 kilometers by air or 165 miles or 266 kilometers by road). Key West is the usual endpoint for marathon swims from Cuba, including Diana Nyad 's 2013 swim and Susie Maroney 's 1997 swim from within

1995-473: The Blue Jays . Cooke transformed the games from straight athletic contests into complete entertainment packages, with a long list of special promotions and celebrity appearances. With his focus on entertainment, Cooke was compared to St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck . Five months after becoming owner, Cooke presented a 48-page booklet to all the teams in the league, outlining his promotional strategies. He

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2090-521: The Calusa and the Tequesta inhabited Key West. The last Native American residents of Key West were Calusa refugees who were taken to Cuba when Florida was transferred from Spain to Great Britain in 1763. Cayo Hueso ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaʝo ˈweso] ) is the original Spanish name for the island of Key West. It literally means "bone cay", cay referring to a low island or reef. It

2185-532: The Dry Tortugas , served after the Civil War as the prison for Samuel A. Mudd , convicted of conspiracy for setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth , the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln . In the 19th century, major industries included wrecking , fishing , turtling , and salt manufacturing. From 1830 to 1861, Key West was a major center of U.S. salt production, harvesting the commodity from

2280-645: The Gulf of Mexico to the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean. Key West is the southern terminus of U.S. Route 1  – the longest north–south road in the United States, as well as State Road A1A , the East Coast Greenway and, before 1935, the Florida East Coast Railway . Key West is a port of call for passenger cruise ships . The Key West International Airport provides airline service. Naval Air Station Key West

2375-478: The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation , whose stated mission was to "help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education." The scholarship program available to high-achieving high school seniors with financial need who seek to attend and graduate from the nation's best four-year colleges and universities. Cooke, an autodidact who didn't have the opportunity to get

2470-439: The Key West Citizen was once again for sale, and this time, the buyers were Canadians. Thomson Newspapers, headquartered in Toronto, added the daily to its small-town newspaper empire, and proceeded to change it beyond recognition. In 1985, the paper became a morning edition, and by the summer of 1988, had moved to its present location at 3420 Northside Drive, the largest office it had ever occupied. In 1989, Thomson invested in

2565-707: The Key West Citizen was sold to John Kent Cooke Sr., scion of a family with strong roots in newspaper publishing: family patriarch Jack Kent Cooke , who had been involved in a number of joint newspaper ventures with Thomson in Canada, once owned the Los Angeles Daily News , as well as a group of community papers in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Locally owned again - for the first time since 1968 - The Citizen , managed by John Kent Cooke Jr., and his brother Tom Cooke at floridakeys.com, continues to provide

2660-483: The Key West Herald , a weekly organized by a number of citizens five years previously, and then swallowed Thompson's Key to the Gulf , around 1900. He combined those two papers into the Inter-Ocean , described during its five-year run as a "high-class fearless daily". Late in 1900, it was Thompson's turn to take over the Inter-Ocean , which he continued publishing until its eventual demise in 1906. In 1904,

2755-1134: The Los Angeles Lakers ( NBA ), the Los Angeles Kings ( NHL ), the Los Angeles Wolves ( United Soccer ), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (IL) . He also developed The Forum in Inglewood, California , and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, now Northwest Stadium , in Landover, Maryland . Under his ownership, the Lakers won the 1972 NBA Finals while the Redskins won Super Bowls in 1982 , 1987 , and 1991 . Born in Hamilton, Ontario , Cooke moved with his family to The Beaches area of Toronto in 1921, where he attended Malvern Collegiate Institute . At age 14, Cooke got

2850-598: The Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959, where he became one of the stars of their 1960 world champions . Organizations also loaned players like Howard and Battey to Cooke's Maple Leafs to advance their development. Cooke sold the Maple Leafs in 1964. Before that, he had watched several team practices and observed Sparky Anderson , noting the player's leadership qualities and ability to teach younger players from all backgrounds. Cooke encouraged Anderson to pursue

2945-622: The Southernmost House and the Fogarty Mansion , built by the children of William Curry—his daughter Florida and son Charles, respectively. In addition to architecture, Old Town includes the Key West Cemetery , founded in 1847, containing above-ground tombs, notable epitaphs, and a plot where some of the dead from the 1898 explosion of USS  Maine are buried. The Casa Marina area takes its name from

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3040-672: The Spanish governor of Cuba in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas, an officer of the Royal Spanish Navy Artillery posted in Saint Augustine, Florida . After Florida was transferred to the United States in 1821, Salas was so eager to sell the island that he sold it twice – first for a sloop valued at $ 575 to a General John Geddes , a former governor of South Carolina , and then to

3135-512: The Straits of Florida , between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico . On March 25, 1822, Lt. Commander Matthew C. Perry sailed the schooner USS  Shark to Key West and planted the U.S. flag, claiming the Keys as United States property. No protests were made over the American claim on Key West, so the Florida Keys became the de facto property of the United States. After claiming

3230-410: The Straits of Florida . The island is about 4 miles (6 km) long and 1 mile (2 km) wide, with a total land area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km ; 2,688.0 acres). The average elevation above sea level is about 8 feet (2.4 m) and the maximum elevation is about 18 feet (5.5 m), within a 1-acre (0-hectare) area known as Solares Hill . The city of Key West is the southernmost city in

3325-610: The Telegram Corporation , which launched CFTO-TV . Within weeks of being turned down for the Toronto TV licence, Cooke applied for U.S. citizenship. With the support of United States House Congressman Francis E. Walter (D-PA), Cooke quickly became a citizen when both houses of Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a waiver of the usual five-year waiting period. Originally established about 1899, incorporated in 1929, as Consolidated Press Limited ,

3420-696: The White Street Gallery District , is exclusively residential. Many of the structures in Old Town date from 1886 to 1912. The basic features that distinguish the local architecture include wood-frame construction of one- to two-and-a-half-story structures set on foundation piers about three feet (one meter) above the ground. Exterior characteristics of the buildings are peaked metal roofs, horizontal wood siding, gingerbread trim , pastel shades of paint, side-hinged louvered shutters, covered porches (or balconies, galleries, or verandas) along

3515-441: The contiguous United States , and the island is the westernmost island connected by highway in the Florida Keys . The city boundaries include the island of Key West and several nearby islands, as well as the section of Stock Island north of U.S. Route 1 , on the adjacent key to the east. The total land area of the city is 5.6 square miles (15 km ), with an additional 1.6 square miles (4.1 km ) of surrounding water within

3610-558: The 1830s, Key West was the richest city per capita in the United States. In 1846, the city suffered severely from the 1846 Havana hurricane . In 1852 the first Catholic Church, St. Mary's Star-Of-The-Sea, was built. The year 1864 became a landmark for the church in South Florida when five Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary arrived from Montreal, Canada, and established the first Catholic school in South Florida. At

3705-532: The 1860s and 1870s), many Cubans sought refuge in Key West. Several cigar factories relocated to the city from Cuba, and Key West quickly became a major producer of cigars. The Great Fire of Key West , on April 1, 1886, started at a coffee shop next to the San Carlos Institute and spread out of control, destroyed 18 cigar factories and 614 houses and government warehouses. Some factory owners chose not to rebuild and instead moved their operations to

3800-527: The British and Spanish periods no nation exercised de facto control. The Bahamians apparently set up camps in the Keys that were occupied for months at a time, and there were rumors of permanent settlements in the Keys by 1806 or 1807, but the locations are not known. Fishermen from New England started visiting the Keys after the end of the War of 1812 , and may have briefly settled on Key Vaca in 1818. In 1815,

3895-605: The Casa Marina Hotel, opened in 1921, the neighborhood's most conspicuous landmark. The Reynolds Street Pier, Higgs Beach, the West Martello Tower , the White Street Pier, and Rest Beach line the waterfront. Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke

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3990-650: The Civil War. Another landmark built by the federal government is the Key West Lighthouse , now a museum. Two of the most notable buildings in Old Town , occupied by prominent 20th-century residents, are the Ernest Hemingway House , where the writer lived from 1931 to 1939, and the Harry S. Truman Little White House , where the president spent 175 days of his time in office. Additionally,

4085-510: The Conch Republic Independence Celebration—including parades and parties—is celebrated annually, on April 23. In 1998, Hurricane Georges damaged the city. In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused substantial damage with wind and flooding, killing three people. Key West is an island located at 24°33′55″N 81°46′33″W  /  24.565176°N 81.775794°W  / 24.565176; -81.775794 in

4180-758: The Florida Keys for the United States, Perry renamed Cayo Hueso (Key West) to Thompson's Island for Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson , and the harbor Port Rodgers in honor of War of 1812 hero and President of the Navy Supervisors Board John Rodgers . In 1823, Commodore David Porter of the United States Navy West Indies Anti- Pirate Squadron took charge of Key West, which he ruled as military dictator under martial law . The United States Navy gave Porter

4275-512: The Florida Keys. Cubans and Bahamians regularly visited the Keys, the Cubans primarily to fish, while the Bahamians fished, caught turtles, cut hardwood timber, and salvaged wrecks. Smugglers and privateers also used the Keys for concealment. In 1766 the British governor of East Florida recommended that a post be set up on Key West to improve control of the area, but nothing came of it. During both

4370-551: The Lakers to Jerry Buss for a then-record $ 67.5 million (equivalent to $ 283 million in 2023); half of the payment was in cash and half was in real estate, with part of Buss's payment including the Chrysler Building . In 1967, Cooke was a founder of the United Soccer Association and owned the Los Angeles Wolves team, which became a charter NASL team the following year. In 1971, Cooke

4465-633: The Navy investigation into the blast occurred at the Key West Customs House. In October 1909, Key West was devastated by the 1909 Florida Keys hurricane . Further damage was suffered the following year in the 1910 Cuba hurricane . Key West was relatively isolated until 1912, when it was connected to the Florida mainland via the Overseas Railway extension of Henry M. Flagler 's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). Flagler created

4560-463: The Redskins, the team won three Super Bowls under head coach Joe Gibbs (in 1982 , 1987 , and 1991 ), the franchise's first championships since the 1940s. Cooke oversaw the construction of Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, now known as Northwest Stadium , which opened in Landover, Maryland , following his death in 1997. In his will, he left the team and stadium to his foundation with instructions to sell. Cooke's son and team president John Kent Cooke managed

4655-595: The Sports Arena, supported a competing bid headed by Los Angeles Rams owner Dan Reeves and advised Cooke that if he won the franchise he would not be allowed to use that facility. In response, Cooke threatened to build a new arena in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood . Nearly 30 years later Cooke told the Los Angeles Times sportswriter Steve Springer that he recalled "one official representing

4750-561: The United States. The mail route was known as the Key West, Florida – Havana Mail Route . The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed much of the Overseas Railway and killed hundreds of residents, including around 400 World War I veterans who were living in camps and working on federal road and mosquito-control projects in the Middle Keys. The FEC could not afford to restore the railroad. The U.S. government then rebuilt

4845-453: The babies and everything." The paper was also modernized almost immediately, as Artman set about trying to find a Linotype machine. "My grandfather, L.P. senior went to New Orleans to buy the machine but found that he didn't have the money," said grandson Greg Artman, a retired Monroe County sheriff's deputy. "But then he saw a friend who said, remember that ring you bought in Paris? He pawned

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4940-413: The city is 5.6 square miles (14.5 km ). The population within the city limits was 26,444 at the 2020 census . The official city motto is "One Human Family". Key West is the southernmost city in the contiguous United States and the westernmost island connected by highway in the Florida Keys . Duval Street , its main street, is 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length in its 14-block-long crossing from

5035-429: The city limits. Sigsbee Park —originally known as Dredgers Key—and Fleming Key , both located to the north, and Sunset Key located to the west are all included in the city boundaries. Both Fleming Key and Sigsbee Park are part of Naval Air Station Key West and are inaccessible to the general public. In the late 1950s, many of the large salt ponds on the eastern side of the island were filled in. The new section on

5130-503: The commission laughing at him" (Springer's words) when Cooke warned he would build in Inglewood. Cooke won the franchise, and paid $ 2 million for the new Los Angeles NHL club, which he called the "Kings." Springer: "Cooke went to Inglewood and built the Forum . Good-bye, Lakers. Good-bye, Kings." The Kings played their first game on October 14, 1967—at the Long Beach Arena while construction was being completed at Cooke's new arena. Cooke claimed The Forum would be "the most beautiful arena in

5225-437: The company changed hands on 23 October 1952, when Consolidated Press Limited', publishers of Saturday Night and Canadian Home Journal magazines, was bought by Jack Kent Cooke, and in 1958, changed its name to Consolidated Frybrook Industries Limited , and, launched in spring 1959, in New York City, a subsidiary, Strand Records , an American budget label. Cooke sold CKEY at the end of 1960 and Consolidated Press in 1961. At

5320-462: The county's growing number of absentee readers and tourists. Both businesses were to be affiliated with the Key West Citizen and managed from Key West. Late in 1998, Thomson bought the independent weekly Solares Hill , which was founded in 1976. But by February 2000, Thomson announced plans to divest itself of 54 small papers in the United States and Canada, in order to focus more intently on its databases and other cyberspace holdings. On June 21,

5415-461: The current Purple (which he referred to as "Forum Blue") and Gold. Under Cooke's ownership, the Lakers reached seven NBA Finals and won the 1972 NBA championship . As a Canadian, Cooke particularly enjoyed ice hockey , and he was determined to bring the National Hockey League (NHL) to Los Angeles. In 1966, the NHL announced it intended to sell six new franchises, and Cooke prepared a bid. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which operated

5510-493: The eastern side is called New Town, which contains shopping centers, retail malls, residential areas, schools, ball parks , and Key West International Airport . Key West and most of the rest of the Florida Keys are on the dividing line between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico . The two bodies have different currents, with the calmer and warmer Gulf of Mexico being characterized by great clumps of seagrass . The shallow passage known as Hawk Channel lies directly south of

5605-490: The estate of Maxwell Gluck. He bred and raced a number of successful horses, notably Flying Continental, sired by Flying Paster , whose wins included the 1990 Jockey Club Gold Cup . Cooke was married five times, however his last two marriages were to the same woman, Marlene Ramallo Chalmers. He was married to Chalmers at the time of his death. Cooke's first marriage, his longest, lasted 45 years. He and 17-year-old Barbara Jean Carnegie, married in 1934, divorcing in 1979. In

5700-470: The financial backing of J. P. Bickell , Cooke purchased CKCL (under Toronto Broadcasting Co.) in 1945, changing the call letters to CKEY. He also continued to work with Thomson, and the two acquired the Canadian edition of Liberty magazine in 1948, naming it New Liberty . The following year, Thomson sold his half of the magazine to Cooke. In 1951, Cooke ventured into sports, acquiring the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club. Upon purchasing

5795-419: The founding team owners in the Continental League , a proposed third major league for professional baseball. The league disbanded a year later without ever playing a game. Cooke still hoped to get an American League expansion team in Toronto, but the city's lack of a major league venue became an impasse. On the field, Cooke's Maple Leafs were an International League powerhouse, finishing in first place during

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5890-478: The fronts of the structures, and wood lattice screens covering the area elevated by the piers. Some antebellum structures survive, including the Oldest (or Cussans-Watlington) House (1829–1836) and the John Huling Geiger House (1846–1849), now preserved as the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens . Fortifications such as Fort Zachary Taylor , the East Martello Tower, and the West Martello Tower , helped ensure that Key West would remain in Union control throughout

5985-424: The island and is conducive to the exchange of Gulf waters to the Atlantic via tidal currents. The area where the two bodies merge between Key West and Cuba is called the Straits of Florida. The warmest ocean waters anywhere on the United States mainland are found in the Florida Keys in winter, with sea surface temperatures averaging in the 75–77 °F (24–25 °C) range in December through February. Duval Street

6080-485: The larger fort. When completed, they were connected to Fort Taylor by railroad tracks for movement of munitions. Early in 1864, 900 men from the 2nd United States Colored Troops (USCT) arrived in Key West as replacements for the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Many of these men would see action in southern Florida and the 2nd USCT would become "one of the most active" black regiments in Florida. Fort Jefferson , located about 68 miles (109 km) from Key West on Garden Key in

6175-475: The late 1970s for $ 646 million. In 1979, he acquired the Chrysler Building in New York City, one of the world's most renowned skyscrapers. In 1985, Cooke bought the Los Angeles Daily News for $ 176 million. A year later, he acquired another cable TV company. He sold the cable systems in 1989. I was never into Cooke-watching as much as I was into watching his teams, and the people he hired to run them. You didn't have to be close to Cooke to make this case: He

6270-554: The legal action, Carnegie was awarded what was then the largest divorce settlement in history—$ 42 million (equivalent to $ 176 million in 2023). The "record divorce settlement precipitated his sale of the Lakers, the Kings and the Forum to Jerry Buss". The presiding judge during the bench trial was Joseph Wapner , who later became famous as the judge on television's The People's Court . Cooke and Carnegie had two sons: John Kent Cooke and Ralph Kent Cooke. Ralph Kent Cooke's son, Jack Kent Cooke II, "died of alcoholic liver disease and

6365-404: The longest-serving governor in Florida's U.S. history. William Whitehead became chief editorial writer for the Enquirer , a local newspaper, in 1834. He preserved copies of his newspaper as well as copies from the Key West Gazette , its predecessor. He later sent those copies to the Monroe County clerk for preservation, which gives us a view of life in Key West in the early days (1820–1840). In

6460-436: The mainland at Florida City . A traffic jam of 17 miles (27 km) ensued while the Border Patrol stopped every car leaving the Keys, supposedly searching for illegal immigrants attempting to enter the mainland United States. This paralyzed the Florida Keys, which rely heavily on the tourism industry. Flags, T-shirts and other merchandise representing the Conch Republic are still popular souvenirs for visitors to Key West, and

6555-458: The mission of countering piracy and the slave trade in the Key West area. Soon after his purchase, John Simonton subdivided the island into plots and sold three undivided quarters of each plot to: Simonton spent the winter in Key West and the summer in Washington, where he lobbied hard for the development of the island and to establish a naval base on the island, both to take advantage of the island's strategic location and to bring law and order to

6650-407: The new community of Ybor City in Tampa , leading to a slow decline in the cigar industry in Key West. Still, Key West remained the largest and wealthiest city in Florida at the end of the 1880s. USS  Maine sailed from Key West on her fateful visit to Havana, where she blew up and sank in Havana Harbor , igniting the Spanish–American War . Crewmen from the ship are buried in Key West, and

6745-492: The paper. It was Norman Artman who decided in 1957 to discontinue the Saturday Key West Citizen , replacing it with a Sunday edition. Though he professed interest in keeping the paper in the family, he sold it - and the Artman Press, which handled commercial printing jobs - to Charles D. Morris for $ 2.5 million in 1968. Morris represented the Southeastern Newspapers Corp., which owned papers in Athens, Savannah and Augusta, Georgia. Artman agreed to stay on as publisher. By 1974,

6840-608: The rail route as an automobile highway, completed in 1938, built atop many of the footings of the railroad. It became an extension of U.S. Route 1 . The portion of U.S. 1 through the Keys is called the Overseas Highway . Franklin Roosevelt toured the road in 1939. During World War II , more than 14,000 ships came through the island's harbor. The population, because of an influx of soldiers, sailors, laborers, and tourists, sometimes doubled or even tripled at times during

6935-541: The regular season four times, capturing the 1960 Governors' Cup as playoff champions, and leading the circuit in attendance every year between 1952 and 1956. Between 1953 and 1959, Cooke operated the Leafs without a major-league affiliation, buying or trading for the contracts of most of the players on his roster from MLB clubs. Veteran minor-league slugger Rocky Nelson , who won the IL's "Triple Crown" in 1958, rode his two-year Toronto stay to one final big-league opportunity with

7030-744: The residences of some historical Key West families are recognized on the National Register of Historic Places as important landmarks of history and culture, including the Porter House on Caroline Street and the Gato House on Virginia Street. Several historical residences of the Curry family remain extant, including the Benjamin Curry House, built by the brother of Florida's first millionaire, William Curry, as well as

7125-650: The ring to his friend, bought the machine and The Citizen got modernized." Walter W. Thompson, who can be considered the spiritual "founding father" of the Key West Citizen , died on July 13, 1929, in Key West. For a while after the Artman purchase, the paper moved to a small space between Sloppy Joe's Bar and the Old City Hall, but space issues necessitated another move across the street to its long term home at 515 Greene St. in 1934. When L.P. Artman died in 1954, his son, Norman D. Artman, took over as publisher of

7220-570: The sea (via receding tidal pools) rather than from salt mines. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Union troops shut down the salt industry after Confederate sympathizers smuggled the product into the South. Salt production resumed at the end of the war, but the industry was destroyed by an 1876 hurricane and never recovered, in part because of new salt mines on the mainland. During the Ten Years' War (an unsuccessful Cuban war for independence in

7315-517: The team for two years before selling the franchise in 1999 to local businessman Daniel Snyder for $ 800 million. In September 1965, Cooke purchased the Los Angeles Lakers for $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 48 million in 2023 in current dollar terms) from Bob Short . Under Cooke's ownership the Lakers moved from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to The Forum and changed their colors from Royal and Light Blue to

7410-646: The team, Cooke informed the media that the Maple Leafs would be integrated immediately, signing second baseman Charlie White and pitcher-outfielder Leon Day within two weeks of the acquisition. Day, a future Hall of Famer, pitched in 14 games that season and then moved on to other teams. White and Day paved the way for future black Maple Leafs like Sam Jethroe , Elston Howard , Earl Battey , Dave Pope , Humberto Robinson , Connie Johnson , Lou Johnson , Mack Jones , Marshall Bridges , and Reggie Smith – not to mention later generations of black players who starred with Toronto's eventual Major League Baseball franchise,

7505-495: The three sold the Key West Citizen , now located in its Front Street offices, to the famed Artman family patriarch L.P. Artman Sr. for $ 100,000, changing the focus and journalistic style almost immediately. "In the old days, there would be more national news, because everybody would know the local news before it got to press," said Florida Keys historian Tom Hambright. "But as the Artman era started, he believed that if you mentioned lots of local names you'd sell papers. So you had all

7600-698: The time it was called Convent of Mary Immaculate. The school is still operating today and is now known as Mary Immaculate Star of the Sea School. During the American Civil War , while Florida seceded and joined the Confederate States of America , Key West remained in U.S. Union hands because of the naval base. Most locals were sympathetic to the Confederacy, however, and many flew Confederate flags over their homes. However, Key West

7695-508: The time, Canada and the U.S. both had laws prohibiting foreign control of radio and TV stations. Cooke had entered the U.S. broadcasting industry in August 1959 by acquiring Pasadena, California radio station KRLA 1110 (now KWVE) through his brother, Donald Cooke, a U.S. citizen. Cooke formed American Cablevision in the 1960s and acquired several cable television companies. He acquired majority ownership of TelePrompTer cable TV, and sold it in

7790-465: The town. He died in 1854. The names of the four "founding fathers" of modern Key West were given to main arteries of the island when it was first platted in 1829 by William Adee Whitehead , John Whitehead's younger brother. That first plat and the names used remained mostly intact and are still in use today. Duval Street, the island's main street, is named after Florida's first territorial governor, William Pope Duval , who served between 1822 and 1834 as

7885-601: The war. Starting in 1946, US President Harry S. Truman established a working vacation home in Key West, the Harry S. Truman Little White House , where he would spend 175 days of his presidency. In 1948, Key West suffered damage from two hurricanes within as many months, from the September 1948 Florida hurricane then the 1948 Miami hurricane . Prior to the Cuban revolution of 1959, there were regular ferry and airplane services between Key West and Havana. John F. Kennedy

7980-663: The world who have been as well rewarded as this one." Cooke married his fourth wife, Marlene Ramallo Chalmers on May 5, 1990. They were divorced in late 1993 after she made headlines in September by driving drunk in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., with a man holding onto the hood and pounding on the windshield of her car. They remarried in 1995 and remained together until his death. Cooke died of congestive heart failure on April 6, 1997, at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. A memorial service

8075-509: The world." It opened December 30, 1967, to rave reviews. Cooke was soon calling it "The Fabulous Forum." However, the Kings struggled both on the ice and at the gate. Cooke had been told that there were more than 300,000 former Canadians living within a three-hour drive of Los Angeles and remarked, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!" In May 1979, Cooke sold the Forum, the Kings, and

8170-401: Was Democratic in its political leanings, but vowed in its editorial pages not to "take up personal differences between the members of different parties, or to shoulder the political fights of any man or men, when they are made for personal reasons". The paper's ultimate aim, was "the advancement of the interests of Key West and Monroe County". A few years later, newspaperman T. J. Appleyard bought

8265-516: Was a financial backer of the first Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier boxing match, held at Madison Square Garden and won by Frazier. A lover of horses and a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing , Cooke owned Kent Farms, a 640-acre (2.6 km ) estate in Middleburg, Virginia , not far from Washington, D.C. In December 1984 he purchased the historic Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky from

8360-477: Was also cut out of his will; she filed a lawsuit against Cooke's estate and reportedly received $ 20 million in a settlement about a year after Cooke's death. "The Cooke Foundation stands with our Black Scholars, Alumni, Families, Staff, and entire diverse community to condemn systemic racism. We are committed to fighting educational and economic inequalities." — Jack Kent Cooke Foundation website The bulk of Cooke's $ 825 million estate went into establishing

8455-490: Was also home to a large free black population. This population grew during the war as more enslaved black people fled from their masters and came under the relative safety of the Union garrison there. Fort Zachary Taylor , constructed from 1845 to 1866, was an important Key West outpost during the Civil War. Construction began in 1861 on two other forts, East and West Martello Towers, which served as side armories and batteries for

8550-457: Was even shorter at 73 days. Cooke agreed to marry Martin if she signed a prenuptial agreement and aborted the first-trimester fetus she was carrying (as a result of having skipped taking one or two birth control pills). It would have been her third abortion in two years. After their wedding, Martin told Cooke she had changed her mind, deciding to keep the baby, and she and Cooke separated four weeks later. After they divorced, Martin gave birth to

8645-533: Was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, Virginia , on April 10 and was attended by more than 400 Washington and sports dignitaries. His will received considerable public attention. His will gave his daughter Jacqueline a trust fund of $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 9 million in 2023) but nothing to her mother, Suzanne Elizabeth Martin, "because of her misconduct and behavior which were calculated to harm me". His final wife, Marlene Ramallo Chalmers,

8740-553: Was named minor league executive of the year by The Sporting News in 1952. That same year, Cooke purchased Consolidated Press, publisher of Saturday Night magazine. He made an unsuccessful bid for The Globe and Mail newspaper in 1955. While owning the Maple Leafs baseball team, Cooke set his sights on bringing a major league club to Toronto. He tried to purchase the St. Louis Browns , Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers when they came up for sale, and in 1959 he became one of

8835-558: Was the best owner in the history of sports. Not pro football, all of sports. — Michael Wilbon In 1960, Cooke purchased 25% interest in the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) for $ 300,000. He purchased majority interest in the team from team president Edward Bennett Williams in 1974, replaced him as controlling owner in 1979, and became sole owner in 1985. As owner of

8930-614: Was to use "90 miles from Cuba" extensively in his speeches against Fidel Castro . Kennedy himself visited Key West a month after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis . In 1982, the city of Key West briefly asserted independence as the Conch Republic as a protest over a United States Border Patrol blockade . This blockade was set up on US 1 , where the northern end of the Overseas Highway meets

9025-465: Was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and newspapers in Canada. After failing at starting a major league baseball team in Toronto and being turned down to own a television station in Toronto, Cooke moved to the United States and built a business empire in broadcasting and professional sports franchises. Cooke was the owner of the Washington Redskins ( NFL ),

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