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.
• A bill to consolidate the staffs of State Attorney William Hallowes and County Solicitor Edward Booth was introduced in Tallahassee by state Reps. Lynwood Arnold and Harry Westberry of Duval County.
A constitutional amendment to combine the offices was approved in the November 1962 general election to be effective in January 1965.
Since the Legislature would not meet again before the effective date, it was necessary to pass the bill during the 1963 session.
The bill provided 15 assistants for the state attorney, including two chief aides. Booth was expected to be appointed to one of the chief posts. Assistant State Attorney Nathan Schevitz was expected to continue as chief assistant. The salary for the positions would be $15,000 per year. The annual pay for the state attorney would remain $21,000.
The consolidation would provide the state attorney’s office with six investigators, four of whom would be provided by law enforcement agencies.
• The Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce sponsored its second “Appreciation Days” retail sales promotion.
Local and out-of-town shoppers were invited Downtown, where merchants had stocked their stores with new seasonal merchandise.
“Once again the time has arrived for this semi-annual promotion event in Jacksonville. We held the first Appreciation Days last fall and it was such a success that we have decided to present it again in the spring,” said Buell Brown, chairman of the council’s development and promotion committee.
“Downtown merchants are offering a broad selection of merchandise at bargain prices in order to show their appreciation for past patronage by Jacksonville area shoppers,” said Harold Martin, council general chairman.
The free shuttle buses sponsored by the council were on a special schedule for the three-day event. The shuttles would operate 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on a 12-minute schedule to transport shoppers throughout Downtown to department and specialty stores. The Jacksonville Coach Co., the private mass transit provider, offered free rides from outlying areas into Downtown.
Brown said he was “particularly proud of the close relationship” between the council committees and City officials in solving the problems that had faced Downtown in the past. He said the beautification of the waterfront and the skyline that had risen in the past several years were a “tribute to the working partnership” between the City and the merchants.
• The board of county commissioners approved a plan drafted by Commissioner Bob Harris to provide off-beach parking for more than 400 vehicles and five public walkways along a three-mile stretch of the strand between Mayport and Atlantic Beach.
All that remained for the plan to be implemented was for the commission to approve a $9,000 expenditure needed to construct the walkways and provide extra paving for the parking areas.
The plan was unanimously approved without changes.
Also approved on Harris’ motion was a request the Duval Area Planning Board adopt, as its major project, a study of the best use of the beach areas in Duval County.
Harris said the study was to be made in cooperation with the three cities along the beach and should be based on an anticipated county population of 1 million, rather than the existing 500,000 residents.
• The City Commission approved release of initial funds for a $48,000 sewer, drainage and paving project in Hansontown.
On the motion of Highways Commissioner Louis Ritter, $18,448 was earmarked for sanitary sewer installation and drainage improvements in the area west of Pearl Street between State Street and Hogans Creek.
The installation of sanitary sewers would force the elimination of a number of privies used by a number of houses, Ritter said. City ordinance code required installation of approved plumbing and connection to the system after sanitary sewers were installed.
As a result, some of the old buildings in the neighborhood would be abandoned because of the expense of installing plumbing.
In other action, the commission awarded a $176,836 contract to Houdaille-Duval Wright Co., for reconstruction of a portion of the 8,000-foot northeast-southwest runway at Imeson Airport. Funds for the project were provided by the U.S. Air Force for the Florida Air National Guard.
On the recommendation of Finance Commissioner Dallas Thomas, the commission for the second time rejected bids on the removal of the submerged hulk of the old river steamboat Osceola from in front of City Hall. Removal of the sunken vessel was considered necessary to clear the way for construction of the new parking lot extension near City Hall and the County Courthouse.
• The Duval County Board of Public Instruction awarded nearly $400,000 in contracts for improvements to 67 schools under its $35 million bond program.
Floor renovation contracts were divided among three local firms.
Superior Construction Co. was the largest package of work involving seven of the schools, for $92,095.
A 53-school pest eradication contract for $53,551was awarded to Orkin Exterminating Co.
Conrad Weihnacht Construction Co. was accepted to perform storm drainage work on the adjoining sites of Englewood Senior High School and Englewood Elementary School. The project cost was $115,450.
• W. Thomas Rice, president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, told members of the Meninak Club of Jacksonville that 1963 would “mark a vital turning point” toward greater progress in the railroad industry.
He said major elements included a large number of anticipated railroad system mergers and federal legislation dealing with tariff rates and corporate income tax structure.
Rice said the railroad had invested millions of dollars in Florida real estate to make land available for new industries. He said the company was not in the real estate business, but sought to make land available for new industry along the railroad at appraised prices.
Rice told the club that everywhere he went, he found great interest in Florida and that Jacksonville was among the leading cities in the state’s growth pattern.
“Jacksonville, with all its progress in recent years, stands at the head of the list with its magnificent municipal accomplishments,” he said.