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 1963. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library's periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The Jacksonville Fire Department accepted delivery of Fireboat 82, described as "one of the most modern fireboats in the nation," at a ceremony at Gibbs Shipyard Inc.
The 63-foot vessel had a top speed of 20 mph and a pumping capacity of 4,000 gallons of water per minute. It was converted from a former aircraft rescue boat and would replace the fireboat John B. Callahan, which went into service in 1922.
Mayor Haydon Burns, taking delivery from the shipyard, said Fireboat 82 was a "big bargain" and compared the vessel with New York City's new fireboat, the John Glenn, which was built at an Atlantic Boulevard shipyard.
Burns said the two boats were the same length and had the same firefighting equipment and capacities. However, the total cost to Jacksonville for Fireboat 82 was $93,000 compared to the estimated $260,000 the Glenn cost New York City, he said.
Burns said the addition of the new vessel to the department's marine division was another step in progress for the city.
Fire Chief Frank Kelly said it was a "happy occasion" to have the new fireboat. He said he beat the Callahan into service with the department by about two years and both he and the boat would retire later in 1963.
• Duval County recorded the fifth consecutive year without a traffic fatality during the Independence Day holiday.
Three people drowned, all in the St. Johns River. One man died when he was thrown out of a motorboat that had gone out of control and two others died in industrial accidents in the river.
The most serious accident in the area took place in Nassau County on U.S. Route 301.
A couple from Clearwater, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Thompson, were seriously injured when their car went out of control on the rain-slicked road and collided with a pine tree.
Trooper P.E. Sanchez of the Florida Highway Patrol said Mrs. Thompson was driving and attempting to pass a car when she lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road.
Sanchez said the car spun around at least twice before hitting the tree. Valued at $2,500, the vehicle was demolished, he said.
• The basic property tax rate in Duval County for 1963 was expected to be $52.35 per $1,000 in value, an increase of $4.85 compared to the 1962 tax rate.
Taxpayers in all unincorporated areas of the county would see an even greater increase in taxes, about $9 per $1,000, including the countywide increase plus the cost of municipal-type services authorized in special legislation.
The legislation authorized the County Commission to provide fire protection, streetlights and school crossing guards.
County Tax Assessor Ralph N. Walter said the value of taxable property in the county was more than $495 million, an increase of $11 million over the 1962 value.
Included in the general tax rate for the first time in 1963 was $1.50 per $1,000 to fund the newly created Jacksonville Port Authority.
• A bill was introduced at City Council calling for a 2.5-cent increase in the price of single-ride tickets on buses operated by the Jacksonville Coach Co.
The legislation also provided for a 20-cent increase in the price of weekly bus ride passes.
The bill provided for the sale of four single-ride tickets for 90 cents, an increase from the previous five tickets for $1. The weekly pass, which entitled the bearer to unlimited rides, would increase from $3.75 to $3.95.
There were no changes proposed in the 35-cent cash fare or any other fare schedule involving transfers or zone fares.
The bill was referred to the Council Committee on Public Service and Motor Transportation. If enacted, it would bring the first change in bus fares since August 1960.
The bus-fare ordinance adopted in 1960 provided the coach company to increase fares if the cost of operation in the previous 12 months exceeded 96 percent of the company's gross income.
• Three proposed sites for a new airport in Jacksonville and proposed construction of a new runway at Imeson Airport were on the agenda at a Federal Aviation Agency airspace meeting in Atlanta.
No objections were raised by interested parties to any of the proposals.
A federal aviation spokesman said airspace clearance was a preliminary, but necessary, step in any new airport construction to ensure airspace requirements did not conflict with any existing air traffic.
The Jacksonville proposals had been filed in May and circulated to interested parties including airlines, private aircraft operators and the Army and Navy, who were asked for comment.
• Two men and a teenager were sentenced to state prison for the theft of a check-writing machine that started them on a $900 forgery escapade.
The three were sentenced by Criminal Court Judge Hans G. Tanzler Jr. on pleas of guilty to the April 19 burglary of a landscaping company at 7447 Beach Blvd.
One defendant was sentenced to four years in prison, while Tanzler sentenced the other two men to serve two-year prison terms. A 16-year-old girl companion was placed in the care of juvenile authorities.
County Solicitor Edward Booth said the men broke into the landscaping company and then stole a check-writing machine and checks.
Action on the forgery charges was held in abeyance. Tanzler warned the defendants that if they came before him on subsequent criminal charges, "I'll send you back (to prison) for a long, long time."
• Records in the office of Circuit Court Clerk Morgan Slaughter indicated more than $17 million worth of real estate changed hands in Duval County in June 1963, the second-highest total for any month during the year.
June's valuation was indicated by state tax stamps affixed to the 2,133 deeds recorded by Slaughter's office in June.
A total of $17,725,600 in transactions was recorded in April 1963.
• Carl V. Cesery, president of Jacksonville Tile Co. Inc. and a former member of the Jacksonville City Council, died on the way to a hospital after a sudden illness.
Friends said Cesery, 55, was stricken with a heart attack at his home and died before he arrived at the hospital.
Cesery was a lifelong resident of Jacksonville and in 1927 was a member of the last class to graduate from Duval High School. He then attended Georgia Tech University.
Cesery entered the floor and wall business with his father, A.J. Cesery, in 1927 and started his own business after the death of his father in 1936.
Cesery was a Council member from 1933-37 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Florida House of Representatives in 1952 and 1956.