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 1965. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
A special study committee of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce voted to take a new look at urban renewal, the federal assistance program for slum clearance.
It was noted that for a number of years, city administration and the chamber opposed the federal program.
Chamber President Claude Yates said the purpose of the committee was “to get sufficient facts to determine if the chamber should change its point of view.”
Officials attending the session included Mayor Lou Ritter, City Commissioner Claude Smith Jr. and City Council members R.B. Burroughs, Clyde Cannon, Robert Roberts, Elbert Hendricks, Lemuel Sharp and Barney Cobb.
Others at the meeting represented areas of chamber membership such as finance and real estate development.
Ritter said there were numerous federal laws offering assistance to cities and that federal assistance did not take away home rule, but cities were required to initiate requests for assistance.
Burroughs said he opposed a reported feature of urban renewal that would allow the city to condemn private property, even though it was a slum, and then, after clearing dilapidated buildings, sell the property to private developers.
The committee issued a statement about the change of opinion that indicated members were concerned about “possible economic stagnation in the community” and urged at least a study of possible urban renewal.
It was agreed to invite representatives of the Atlanta regional office of federal assistance agencies to Jacksonville to meet the committee, outline the aid available and answer questions.
“I am tickled to death the chamber is taking a look at this thing and we can see what we can do,” Ritter said.
• George M. Ivey, president and treasurer of J.B. Ivey & Co., announced a 30,000-square-foot Ivey’s department store would be built in the new Regency Square Mall at the intersection of Atlantic and Southside boulevards.
Construction of the mall was expected to be completed in 1967.
Merchandise for the new location would be selected by personnel at the Downtown store, which opened in August 1962. Ivey’s was the first new department store to open Downtown since 1932.
Commenting on the new store, Ivey said the company’s expansion to the new mall was necessary because of “extraordinary rapid growth” of the residential population in the area between Jacksonville and the Beaches.
“It is most gratifying at this time to be able to plan expansion of the business,” he said.
Joan and Martin Stein, developers and owners of Regency Square, said they were pleased to include Ivey’s among the merchants who “would make Regency Square the largest air-conditioned shopping mall in the Southeast.”
• Arrests of bootleggers and moonshiners increased sharply in the Jacksonville area during the first six months of 1965, according to State Beverage Director Ren Morris.
There were 34 arrests in the Jacksonville district for operation of illegal distilleries in the first six months of 1965, compared with nine in the same period in 1964. Arrests for sale of non-tax-paid whiskey were up from 34 to 110.
Morris reported seven minors arrested for purchasing alcoholic beverages from January through June; eight occurred in the same period the previous year. Arrests of people for sales to minors also dropped one, from six to five.
Ten alcohol-consumption licenses were revoked for allowing gambling on the premises in the first six months of 1965, compared to only three in 1964. There were no arrests or license revocations related to prostitution in either period.
Morris said the conviction rate on criminal cases brought to court by his agency was near 90 percent.
• St. Augustine’s observance of its 400th anniversary received artistic assistance from the Cummer Gallery of Art.
An exhibition of Spanish paintings from the Middle Ages to the 20th century would be featured for two months at the Riverside Avenue gallery.
The show included works on long-term loan to the Cummer by the Oscar B. Cintas Collection. Artists included Dali, Picasso, El Greco, Miro and Goya.
• More than 500 Boy Scouts of the Mohawk District, North Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America participated in the inaugural fall roundup recruiting program at Gateway Shopping Center.
An estimated 8,000 visitors inspected 57 booths during the day long event. Demonstrations included games and crafts, cooking, first aid, signaling and other outdoor skills.
Native American dances were performed by members of the Echockotee Lodge, Order of the Arrow and the Morocco Temple Shrine Spitfires and Sultans demonstrated intricate driving skill on motorcycles and go-carts.
R.J. Sayers, Mohawk District scouting executive, said the purpose of the exhibition was to recruit Cub and Boy Scouts in the area.
• Stephen Eugene Jordan, 16, was declared presently insane and therefore incapable of standing trial for first-degree murder in the May 11 stabbing death of a Glynlea woman.
Circuit Judge Charles Scott made the finding on the basis of testimony by two psychiatrists appointed to examine the accused.
Following the ruling, Jordan was formally committed to the Florida State Hospital at Chattahochee with specific instructions that he not be released without order of the court.
Scott made it clear he was not ruling on Jordan’s sanity at the time of the offense. He said that was a decision to be made by a jury, provided the defendant was released from the hospital and brought to trial.
Jordan, of 1049 Glynlea Road, was 15 years old when Gladys Hood, 43, was stabbed to death with a knife in her home at 6620 Newcastle Road the night of May 11. He turned 16 on June 15 and was indicted July 9 by the grand jury.
Juvenile Court Judge Lamar Winegeart Jr. on June 15 waived jurisdiction over Jordan and certified him to Circuit Court in an order which referred to opinions by psychiatrists that the youth was psychotic.
On a finding that Jordan was without funds to hire an attorney, Scott on July 19 appointed Public Defender Ed Austin to represent Jordan. Austin filed notice on his client’s behalf that his defense would rely on insanity.
• Reports of worms in Arlington in the drinking water were again received by County Commissioner Bob Harris, who represented the area.
On his motion, the board directed the county Health Department to check the water supply, furnished by AFS Water Service, and report the results when the commission convened Sept. 30.
“If they don’t straighten up, we’ll have a hearing,” said Harris. “I don’t intend to continue putting up with this problem.”
• A medley of songs by a young vocalist included a surprise for members of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville during their weekly meeting at the Mayflower Hotel.
The program billed Jimmy Knight as “speaker,” but he didn’t make any speech.
Knight was the pianist at the Thunderbird Inn along the Arlington Expressway. He reminded the Rotarians that he played the organ at the Florida Theatre in 1933 when he was 17. Many in the room raised their hands admitting they heard Knight play the theater organ in the 1930s.
Knight’s appearance was primarily to accompany Martha Tanner, soloist at Riverside Christian Church and a student at Jacksonville University’s School of Music and Fine Arts.
• Passengers aboard the St. Johns River ferry Blackbeard were delayed for nearly two hours when the vessel’s engine quit on the run from Mayport to Fort George Island.
Rufus Wilson, ferry service marine superintendent, said mechanics got the engine running shortly after the Blackbeard was pushed into the slip by a second ferry, the Buccaneer.
The service was run by the State Road Department.