Ever wonder what the news headlines were in our city 50 years ago? It may have been a different time in Jacksonville, but it turns out some of the news paralleled issues faced today — garbage fees, Downtown parking and traffic and special elections, although some headlines were more relevant to the times, such as local bootlegging.
The following are some of the top Times-Union stories printed 50 years ago this week, compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives.
• Fifty years ago, everyone in Jacksonville had to renew their motor vehicle registration tag at the same time. More than 13,000 vehicle owners had asked for a 15-day extension that was to expire at the end of the week. County Tax Collector Clyde Simpson was expecting 140,000 vehicles to be registered in Duval county in 1958.
• The Jacksonville Beach City Council was considering enacting a $2-per-month municipal garbage assessment for home pickups. The levy would be higher for commercial establishments. It was estimated the proposed fees would generate $50,000 of the $80,000 cost of operation.
• There was a special election in Atlantic Beach and voters narrowly approved a measure to allows bars to open on Sunday. It was a close ballot: 282 in favor, 238 opposed.
• County Solicitor Lacy Mahon Jr. announced two people would be tried in criminal court on bootlegging charges. The defendants were accused of selling a pint of whiskey without a license at the Dutch Mill Club on Philips Highway during a “striptease show.” Later in the week, Mahon filed an injunction to close the club as a public nuisance and “a den of iniquity.”
• Members of Local 197 of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electrical Railway and Motorcoach Employees of America were considering a strike against the Jacksonville Coach Company. The bus drivers wanted a pay increase and a five-day work week instead of six.
• At a meeting at the Green Turtle restaurant, the Southside Businessmen’s Club approved a resolution urging the State Road Department (later absorbed into the Florida Department of Transportation) to widen Hendricks Avenue from San Jose Boulevard to Lakewood.
• The City Highway department installed the first of several hundred new porcelain-covered steel street nameplates. The first was installed on a 7-foot post at the corner of Bay and Laura streets. The signs were purchased to replace the old 4-foot high concrete street markers.
• The City Traffic Advisory Committee recommended that parking be banned on the north side of Adams Street and the south side of Forsyth Street during peak hours.
• The Jacksonville Beach Chamber of Commerce mailed 1,200 invitations to schools in the Southeast hoping students would choose the area for graduation trips and school parties in the spring.