Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century 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 headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1961. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The Duval County Commission signed a contract with The Auchter Co. for the expansion of County Courthouse facilities to accommodate the three new circuit judges who were assigned as a result of the 1960 U.S. Census.
Work on the project, which included building one large and one small courtroom and two additional judge’s offices, was expected to begin in a few weeks. Auchter was the low bidder on the job at $204,430.
• The City Council Laws and Rules Committee approved an ordinance to amend the required distances between alcoholic beverage vendors and schools and churches.
The existing law banned the sale of beverages containing more than 1 percent by weight of alcohol within 125 feet of any established church or school.
The proposed legislation would change the distance to 140 feet in the “Downtown Business Zone” and 200 feet in the “South Jacksonville Zone” and the “Combination Business and Residential Zone,” which covered areas not included in the other two zones.
The proposed ordinance also would measure the distance by the nearest route a pedestrian would take, rather than a straight line, between the liquor vendor and the church or school.
It would not apply to existing licensed locations or renewal of licenses for them, or to transfers of those licenses at the same location.
• The City Commission proposed annexation legislation that could make Jacksonville the city with the largest population in Florida.
If the plan were approved by the Legislature and by voters in the areas affected, Jacksonville’s land area would triple and the population would climb above 300,000 with the addition of more than 100,000 people who lived in the suburbs.
The 1960 U.S. Census listed Miami’s population at 291,688 and Tampa’s population at 274,970.
The proposal would hike Jacksonville’s head count from 201,330 to 303,545 and the land area from 30 square miles to 95.5 square miles. That would leave an estimated 130,976 people in the unincorporated areas of Duval County and 19,177 at the Beach communities.
The annexation plan was set forth in a proposed bill filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court by City Attorney William Madison. It would be considered by the Duval County delegation to the state Legislature, which would convene in April.
Areas proposed for annexation were:
Zone 1, from the Ortega River and Cedar Creek to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad near New Kings Road and west to Lane Avenue.
Zone 2 extended from the City limits on the south to the Trout River and from the ACL on Old Kings Road to the Trout River on the east.
Zone 3 covered the Arlington area from the Expressway north to the St. Johns River and from Mill Creek Road on the east to the river on the west.
Zone 4 covered a Southside area including Clifton, Glynlea, San Souci Manor, Englewood, Lakewood and San Jose.
The measure would allow registered voters in the city and in the four zones to determine, in a special election Sept. 12, 1961, whether any or all of the four zones should come within the city limits.
The qualified electors in the county’s permanent registration books would be entitled to participate in the ballot.
If a majority of voters in any one of the four zones turned down the annexation proposal, that zone would not be admitted to the city. Each zone’s vote would determine its own fate.
If the city voters turned down the proposal, none of the zones could be admitted, even if all of the zones favored annexation.
An additional ward and an additional City Council seat would be created for each zone becoming part of the city.
• At the annual meeting of the Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Mayor Ben West said the chances of being able to do anything constructive about urbanization “grew smaller and smaller with every moment of the country’s haphazard growth.”
West spoke to more than 300 council members and guests at a luncheon at the Robert Meyer Hotel.
He said that because urban planning was “bound to affect the lives of so many people,” there was not a more critical, vital or challenging subject.
“The vast majority of America’s people, labor, culture and wealth lies wholly within metropolitan regions and the only way in which we can make life more efficient, fuller, better and more beautiful” was through “dynamic urban development” which required “hard work and advanced planning,” said West.
• After entering a contest to see who could most closely guess the number of votes President John F. Kennedy would get in the 1960 election, Gulf Life Insurance Co. executive A.W. Stanwood found out politics can get a little “corny.”
He was receiving in the mail every day dozens of bags of popcorn after winning second prize in the contest. First prize was an all-expenses paid trip to the inauguration.
Stanwood, who said he was a Nixon supporter, decided by averaging nine nationwide polls that Kennedy would win with 34,190,819 votes. He was off by about 30,000 votes.
“I now have enough popcorn to pop 1,064 quarts of popcorn,” said Stanwood.
He donated the kernels to the YWCA, where it would be used at dances and other Y-sponsored events.
Stanwood said entering word and jingle contests was his hobby and while winning was nothing new, “this is the silliest thing I have ever won.”
He said his past prizes included $400, a hi-fi set, a television, a cashmere sweater, a palm tree, record albums, a set of encyclopedias and a gasoline-powered midget automobile that would hold both of his 8-year-old twin daughters.
“One of these days we’ll hit a big one,” said Stanwood.
• Jacksonville’s Municipal Coliseum continued to be a hit with promoters and audiences alike.
Fats Domino “with his terrific band” was booked into the new 12,000-seat indoor arena for one show. Tickets were $1.50 in advance, $2 at the door.
A few blocks away at the Armory, a Grand Ole Opry show and dance starring Faron Young with Buck Owens, June Carter, George Jones and “a host of stars” came to Jacksonville. Tickets were $1.25 in advance, $1.50 at the door.
People heading for an evening of greyhound racing entertainment at the Jacksonville Kennel Club on McDuff Avenue were invited to stop on the way for dinner at Abood’s Steer Room at the foot of the Beaver Street viaduct.
For $2.95, the restaurant served a “one full pound, charcoal broiled Kansas City sirloin steak” with “our famous cocktail cheese with toasted Zwieback, chilled salad tossed at your table, baked Idaho potato and hot homemade rolls with plenty of butter.”