Ever wonder what stories made headlines in Jacksonville 50 years ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics, but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made the news in 1958 and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the vast differences.
The following are some of the top headlines from the Florida-Times Union printed 50 years ago this week. These items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives.
• The Florida Air National Guard celebrated its 11th anniversary with an air show at Imeson Airport. The event drew an estimated 86,000 spectators and Duval County Patrol Chief W. F. Johnston said the crowd created the biggest traffic jam in the city’s history on Main Street. Three hours after the show was over cars were still trying to get out of the airport.
• Today it’s a climate-controlled storage facility, but this week in 1958, 50 federal agencies were planning their move into the new Federal Building in the 400 block of West Ashley Street. The Internal Revenue Service was set to be the first occupant July 1, soon after to be joined by the Veterans Administration, the Federal Housing Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Agricultural Research Service and others.
• Brooks Motors at the corner of Laura and State streets was selling new 1958 Chrysler Windsor 4-door sedans – fully equipped including a heater and a radio – for $84.90 a month.
• The Hans Honold, a 10,000-ton German freighter, was towed to Jacksonville for repairs after drifting in the North Atlantic for a week without a rudder. The ship was carrying a cargo of European automobiles including two Porsche cars (valued at $10,000 each) that were on their way to the Florida Grand Prix of Endurance race at Sebring.
• Soforenko Homes was selling 4-bedroom homes in Arlington Hills for $700 down and $69.50 a month including taxes and insurance.
• Borden Co., Dinsmore Dairy, Foremost Dairies, Southern Dairies and Velda Corp. were on trial in U.S. District Court before Judge Bryan Simpson. They were charged with conspiring to fix prices of milk being sold to the U.S. Navy.
• Sputnik II, Russia’s second satellite, orbited directly over Jacksonville. Ernest Rowland, president of the Jacksonville Astronomy Club and about a dozen of his fellow sky-gazers viewed the event at Imeson Airport. Rowland said it was Jacksonville’s only chance to see the satellite pass overhead since it was descending at the rate of six miles per day and would burn up in the atmosphere within a month.
• The Prudential Insurance Company served notice to the City it opposed the extension of the bulkhead adjacent to Baptist Memorial Hospital. The hospital administration was seeking to build 200 feet further into the St. Johns River.
• Federal, State and Duval County beverage officers destroyed a 1,620-gallon still six miles northeast of Oceanway near Yellow Bluff Road. No arrests were made.