ABSTRACT
A deepwater port on the St. Johns River and, at two hundred thousand residents, still
the state’s biggest city, Jacksonville had boomed in the s, gone bust in the s, and
boomed again during World War II, when eighty-two liberty ships, twelve tankers, and
countless smaller craft had been launched from city shipyards. Now the war was over
and civic leaders worried that peace might end prosperity. Yet for Americans every-
where, the joy of August did not fade but became transformed into widespread opti-
mism. Returning servicemen got out of uniform, got to work, and got married. Young
couples pledged their faith in the future with new babies, new homes, and new cars,
and Jacksonville, like many other cities, began a spurt of growth that would double its
size in a decade.
