Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was 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 1962-63. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library's periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• "The year 1962 has been the most successful one in the history of our city," said Jacksonville Mayor Haydon Burns in his year-end review.
He said the "most encouraging single event of the year" was when voters approved a $7.65 million urban development program.
"The 3-1 vote favoring the program was concrete, positive assurance that the progressive attitude of our citizens is not waning," Burns said.
Elements of the improvements approved by a referendum included a new Downtown public library, a park and marina Downtown on the south side of the St. Johns River, a riverfront boulevard and other improvements on the north bank of the river.
Burns listed the completion of the Civic Auditorium and the approval of a $63 million bond issue for expansion of the City's Electric Department as "two more signs of the continuing spirit of progress" in Jacksonville.
"Completely new horizons in culture, recreation, entertainment and sports activities have been opened to the residents of the community with the availability of both the auditorium and the coliseum," he said.
Parks Commissioner Dallas Thomas said in addition to the marina project, $10,000 had been earmarked in the City budget for landscape improvements at Hemming Park and $30,000 had been set aside for improvements at Memorial Park.
Improvements also were planned for the Jacksonville Zoo.
"The major portion of the $35,000 to $40,000 earnings from concessions will be spent to complete the bear and cat moats," Thomas said.
• The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. announced plans to build a $3 million, fully mechanized warehouse on the 70-acre New Kings Road industrial district of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
The company purchased a 22-acre section of the industrial property along 45th Street for construction of a 214,000-square-foot industrial center.
The warehouse would serve 125 A&P grocery stores in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina and would employ 225 people, said Smith.
Announcement of the project was made by R.M. Smith, president of A&P's Southern Division and railroad President W. Thomas Rice.
• Seven freighters were expected to remain docked in the Port of Jacksonville until the stevedore's strike was resolved.
A spokesman for the St. Johns Bar Pilots Association said two freighters had joined five others already idled by the work stoppage and another was scheduled to arrive at the port.
Tankers, however, were moving in and out of the port regularly, since they had little need for stevedore services.
• According to statistics released by the State Department of Education, Duval was Florida's 13th wealthiest county, but ranked 67th out of 67 counties in terms of per-pupil expenditures on behalf of education.
Based on a survey of buying power, Duval County had a per capita disposable income of $1,700. Disposable income was defined as net buying power after payment of all taxes.
The education department reported that Duval County's per-pupil costs were $269.98, including annual operating expenses exclusive of capital outlay and debt service.
In effect, the parallel tables of figures indicated Duval County citizens had comparatively plenty of money to spend, but were spending less per student than other counties whose residents did not have as much disposable income.
Dade County, which had the state's largest school system, ranked second in buying power and eighth in expenditures per student. Sarasota County had the highest per-capita disposable income at $2,164 and ranked 14th in per-pupil expenditures.
• The 10th Annual Gator Bowl Regatta came to an end when Bob Terry won the Howard Biser Trophy outboard race. Terry was a four-time champion from 1955-59, when the feature event was a marathon race.
James Shivler Jr., with a 1.49 percent of error, won the predicted log contest at the Florida Yacht Club and Billy Arnold took first place in the Star-boat class sailing race at the Rudder Club.
Nathan Mallison, general chairman of the Gator Bowl Regatta since its inception, said the 10th annual competition was successful.
• Jimmy Kinard, City Recreation Department "mop-up crew" foreman, said the crowd at the 18th annual Gator Bowl did not leave as much of a mess in the stadium as in years past. The job usually required a full day and half of another, but the 1962 cleanup required only half a day for Kinard and his staff, he said
"This is the first year we haven't found anything of value lost by fans. Maybe there is a relationship between that and the fact we found very few bottles, too. The people may have been not as confused as on other occasions," said Kinard.