New Deal in Florida 1933
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NPS Form 10-900-bMB No. 1024-0018 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. June 1991) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES MULTIPLE PROPERTY DOCUMENTATION FORM This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts. See instructions in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Complete each item by entering the requested information. For additional space, use continuation sheets (Form 10-900-a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all items. x New Submission ___ Amended A. Name of Multiple Property Listing________________________________________ FLORIDA'S NEW DEAL RESOURCES B. Associated Historic Contexts____________________________ (Name each associated historic context identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period for each.) The New Deal in Florida, 1933-1943 C. Form Prepared by name/title Johnston, Sidney, historian organization West Volusia Historical Society, Inc.____________ date 5/14/2004 street & number 535 North Clara Avenue________________ telephone 386-734-6288 city or town peLand__________ state Florida_______ zip code 32720-3405 D. Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60 and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. O See continuation sheet for additional comments. (f . Signature and title of certifying official ' O (j <J Date State Historic Preservation Officer. Division of Historical Resources_________________ State or Federal agency and bureau I hereby certify that this multiple property documentation form has been approved by the National Register as a basis for evaluating related propertiesVor listing in the NationaJJRegister. Signatuf£ of the Keeper Florida's New Deal Resources Florida Name of Multiple Property Listing State Table of Contents for Written Narrative Provide the following information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the instructions for continuation sheets in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Fill in page numbers for each section in the space below Page Numbers E. Statement of Historic Contexts 1-85 (If more than one historic context is documented, present them in sequential order.) F. Associated Property Types 86-106 (Provide description, significance, and registration requirements.) G. Geographical Data 107 H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation Methods 108-109 I. Major Bibliographical References 110-124 (List major written works and primary location of additional documentation: State Historic Preservation Office, other State agency, Federal agency, local government, university, or other, specifying repository.) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 124-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section E Page 1________________________________Florida's New Deal Resources INTRODUCTION This section provides a context outlining the development of New Deal resources in Florida during the Great Depression. Documenting the significant activities and personalities of the New Deal, the narrative discusses the significant "alphabet agencies" implemented by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and their effect on Florida's landscape. A research tool and predictive model to help identify potential resources built in association with New Deal dollars in the state's urban centers, towns, and communities, this section provides the necessary historical context for the listing of Florida's New Deal resources in the National Register of Historic Places. NEW DEAL HISTORIC CONTEXT, 1933-1943 The collapse of the Florida land boom in the mid-1920s resulted in Florida's entering an economic depression while much of the rest of the country enjoyed several more years of sustained economic prosperity. In 1926, forty banks closed throughout the state, numerous hotels were shuttered and entered foreclosure, and hundreds of light manufacturing jobs were lost in the printing, railroad, and turpentine industries. Hurricanes that struck south Florida in 1926 and 1928 helped precipitate the end of the land boom. Although several south Florida cities experienced a mild resurgence of construction following the hurricanes, most development simply repaired public facilities and replaced destroyed commercial buildings and dwellings, rather than providing places of business and homes to new entrepreneurs and residents. Real estate assessments statewide plummeted by $182,000,000 between 1926 and 1930, and building permits went into steep declines in Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa. In Miami, building permits reached the $60,000,000 mark in 1925 and fell under $5,000,000 in 1928, a level maintained until 1937. Infestation by Mediterranean fruit flies resulted in Florida's citrus farmers harvesting 14,000,000 fewer boxes of fruit in the 1928 season than in the previous year. By the time the Great Depression struck in 1929, Florida had entered its own economic depression. 1 The nation's era of prosperity began to tumble in September 1929, and then fell with devastating results on 29 October 1929, historically known as "Black Tuesday." Between September and November 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Index lost one-half of its value, falling from 452 to 224; in July 1932, the nadir of the depression, the index stood at fifty-eight. During the ensuing decade, the population of Florida rose from 1,568,211 in 1930, to 1,606,842 in 1935, and reached 1,897,414 in 1940. Most cities experienced a population increase, with the largest growth occurring in southeast Florida. The administration of Governor Doyle Carlton, who took office in January 1929, was dominated by the Great Depression, the full brunt of which made its impact in Florida in the early-1930s. In 1930, Florida's unemployment rate stood at 5.5 percent; its urban population totaled fifty-two percent, the highest urban rate in the South. The state's unemployment rate reached its highest levels in urban areas, with Miami at 11.5 percent and Tampa at 9.2 percent. Rural Florida registered an average unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. Prohibited 'William Frazer and John J. Guthrie, Jr., The Florida Land Boom: Speculation, Money, and the Banks (Westport and London: Quorum Books, 1995), 37-38, 143-145; Charlton Tebeau, A History of Florida (Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1971), 385-387, 394. NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 124-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section E Page 2_______________________________Florida's New Deal Resources constitutionally from emergency borrowing, Governor Carlton experienced little success addressing concerns over unemployment, finances, and taxation. He repeatedly recommended streamlining government functions, retiring bonded municipal debts, and increasing agricultural experimental and extension work to improve farm output. Carlton found himself at odds with the legislature over pari-mutuel betting at horse tracks, school finance, and inheritance taxes. In 1931, he signed into law legislation that allocated one-half of the sixth cent of the state's gasoline tax to retire the debts of Florida's counties, and doubled state aid to public schools.2 Partly because of Carlton's conservatism, the state government made little effort to assist the unemployed beyond those nascent attempts at relief. Some municipal governments responded more quickly to the financial crisis. In February 1931, seventeen Florida counties reported local public welfare programs, which increasingly were beset with finding the unemployed jobs. Although no cities possessed sufficient resources to contend with their specific economic emergencies, municipal governments at Daytona Beach, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Lake Worth, Orlando, Pensacola, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and West Palm Beach took some steps to provide a measure of relief to the afflicted. In 1931, Josiah Fitch, the mayor of Ft. Myers, established