Have you ever wondered 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 differences. These are some of the top stories published in the Florida Times-Union 50 years ago this week. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• Following a public hearing at a County Commission meeting, Chaseville Road from Atlantic Boulevard north to the St. Johns River was officially renamed “University Boulevard.” Only one citizen rose in protest, J.P. Young. He sought to have the new name applied to the continuous route of Chaseville, Love Grove, Longwood and Lakewood roads. When it was pointed out that would cause confusion in mailing addresses, Young withdrew his protest.
• More than 15 million vehicles went over the Mathews and Fuller Warren bridges during 1958, pushing toll receipts 29 percent over what engineers estimated before the spans were built. It was noted that if bridge traffic continued to exceed the Jacksonville Expressway Authority’s forecasts, the $70 million worth of bonds that were issued to finance the expressway could be retired and the bridges made toll-free before the scheduled 1992 date. (The toll booths were removed in 1989 after voters approved a measure to add a half-cent sales tax to replace the revenue.)
• A 32 year-old man was sentenced to five years in prison for shooting another man in the stomach during a dispute over the defendant’s wife at the Reno Baron on Davis Street. Judge A. Lloyd Layton found Wallace Jones guilty of assault to murder George Thomas and imposed the sentence. Layton also acquitted Fannie Mae Atkins, who had also been charged with assault to murder. Assistant County Solicitor Hans Tanzler said the woman testified that Thomas molested her and then pushed her around when she protested as she and Jones were leaving the bar. None of several prosecution witnesses saw the alleged molestation. They said Jones suddenly fired a .22 caliber revolver into Thomas’s abdomen and then calmly strolled out of the bar with the woman. Thomas recovered after spending more than a week in the hospital. Tanzler said the woman claimed later that she, not Jones, fired the shot. In court, the woman asked to be allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of aggravated assault, but Tanzler refused to accept that plea.
• Carl S. Swisher was re-elected president of the Jacksonville Symphony Association. Dr. L.E. Geeslin was elected vice president and Mrs. Charles W. Campbell would serve as second vice president in her capacity as president of the Women’s Guild of the association. “The list of projects and activities that (here) are firsts for this association,” Swisher said of the previous year. He listed the first concert season ticket sellout, the formation of a Little Symphony with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the first Symphony Ball, which was scheduled to be held Jan. 20, 1959 as an activity of the Women’s Guild.
• A man employed by the Jacksonville Post Office for the Christmas rush season received a three-year sentence in U.S. District Court after he pleaded guilty to rifling registered mail. Federal Judge Bryan Simpson imposed the sentence on Warren Gaskin who was charged in a four-count indictment with stealing a total of $845 from four registered letters. Postal inspectors said Gaskin was assigned to collect mail from various boxes and stations and had to sign for registered mail. The inspectors said that on Dec. 16, Gaskin partially opened two registered letters addressed to the Atlantic National Bank and took out $101 from one and $300 from the other. The bank noticed the shortages upon receipt of the letters and notified postal authorities. The following day, inspectors said, Gaskin opened two more letters addressed to the bank and removed $237 and $207. He was apprehended the same day when he returned to the West Bay Postal Annex and admitted taking the money.
• “Crowded conditions in a growing city” was cited as the cause of an increase in juvenile crime, said County Court Judge Marion W. Gooding. Duval County Juvenile Court handled 2,866 cases in 1958, 447 more than in 1957 and 766 more than in 1956. Gooding attributed the 18 percent increase to the steadily increasing population and “more significantly, the crowded conditions in an enlarging community.”
• As his two teenaged sons approached to call him for dinner, a blast of dynamite killed farmer Allie Nolan who had been blasting stumps on his land near Old Plank Road. The sons said they saw their father bending over a stump hole as the dynamite discharged, hurling the victim about 15 feet. Investigating officers Lt. Patrick Petersen and Deputy R.P. McCauley of the Duval County Patrol theorized Nolan had lit a slow-burning fuse and was killed when he approached to see if it had burned out.