(LOTS OF PICS...CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE!)
Many of you know that I am the moderator of an internet group called I Grew up In Daytona. We are about 8000+ members strong, most not really active, but they check in once in awhile. I am amazed at the people who are aware of what we do there, that never post. Many people seem to enjoy the memories and photos we share there. (If you are a Facebook member, you can check us out at the link at the end of this blog).
On November 30 2013, we took our 3rd annual history walk, this time concentrating on the Ballough Corridor and Orange Island areas.
I would like to thank Dr. Rawls and the Rawls Veterinary clinic at 127 Mason Av for allowing us to use their property as a starting point. We began assembling around 10 am and departed on our walk shortly after 11am.
The weather is generally perfect on these walks. About 1030am we had some sprinkles and clouds that caused us some concern. Fortunately, as predicted by the weather man, they left as fast as they arrived, and the weather for the walk was spectacular, save for some very heavy winds that only concerned those with hats or long hair or both.
We began by heading north toward the old traffic circle. The old bridge left us in 1995 when the new bridge spans were constructed, completely changing the face of that part of town. We shared our memories of the circle and the surrounding businesses. I pointed at Sunset Harbor, and illustrated the generation gaps of our attendees by pointing out they either remembered that as Marker 32, Beacon Ambulance, Ray Fox, or Fish Carburetor, or the Hudson dealer, depending on their age! I also told of the old oil tanks that formerly sat just south of that location.
We then continued north along Sickler, pointing out the location of the old Moose Lodge, and the old Green Dolphin which is now Chez Paul, and the location where Parks was, which is now just a parking lot. Before Parks was there, it was Paleface Harbor.
We continued north to 2nd street, past the site of Smokeys which is now just a cleared lot awaiting condos once the market rebounds further. Smokeys has been closed and sold for some time, but the last of the building burned in a suspicious 2011 fire. It was always Smokeys wish that his property not become a shrine to him, so to know him is to know that the loss is not truly heartbreaking. We headed easterly on 2nd to the park situated between the Marina Grande and the old Smokeys site. This was a planned rest room break using the public facilities there, as the rest of us headed to the rivers edge where Aloha Marina once has stood.
While enjoying this vista, we talked about the seaplane base that had been here on the site of where Publix was, and the plaza where Publix was and a bit about the shoreline added from the dredging, and the saw mill that was at 4th street.
We also spoke about the property where the Diplomatic Center is now, and that before then it was the location of the Post's house. I shared the story of the Posts having had the Post Office moved, and this created the City of Goodall at the time, about where Main Street is today. Mentioned that the Posts were founders of the city, and explained the Posts and Kelloggs impetus in those days about health and wellness...as illustrated in the movie "The Road To Wellville". This was probably my last chance in life to use the term "copious and ropelike stools" in front of a crowd. HA!!
I then pointed attention to the Riverside Trailer Park that most likely will not be there much longer as the city is acquiring the land to create drainage to assuage the flooding issues prone to that area. We also took note of the Townline, looking eerily the same as when it was Danny's Musical Lounge in the 40s...
Next door to the south, the property that was formerly an open air market, then for many decades the law center housing the DL office, tag office, jail and sheriffs. Now owned by Holly Hill and in process of becoming a municipally owned plaza. New tenant being the Honduran restaurant that moved in from Mason Av. My impression...beautiful, underused facility, but poorly marked. I stood there a long time and could not tell you where the restaurant was. This is a work in progress for sure.
We then headed south further toward Mason, making note of what had been. We crossed over Mason and walked along Beach Street thru what was the area known as Kingston, taking note of the older commercial property and some of the great historic homes still in the area. We headed west on Madison past the old trailer park which is largely abandoned of residents now that the new owners have come in to either make improvements or develop. This leg of the walk between Madison and Fairview was intended to show what WAS at one time a thriving residential area, and how it had declined. We took note of grand, large single family homes converted into multiple apartments, which attracts a lower income tenant. Combine that with a lack of upkeep due to mostly rental status, this seems to be what causes the decline in that area of town...especially given its proximity to both the crime area (drugs and prostitution) as well as the area where the desperate go to seek help (Salvation Army, the shelter on North Street, etc...). It was noted that perhaps moving the facilities further west toward Indian Lake area may do well to help revitalize the district we are walking thru.
We encountered a handful of potentially unsavory characters, but we were about 40 strong so I did not anticipate any problems. We were quite the sight walking thru there. More than one resident looked at us not sure what we were up to. As we made our way up North St to Ridgewood, we walked Ridgewood to Fairview, pointing out the awesome bungalows and craftsman style houses still standing in the area. I pointed out that US-1 was much narrower way back before the 50s, and there were largely only residences there, with huge oak trees shading the way. There was a petition to keep US1 from being widened wider than 50 feet, but alas that failed and the widening came as did the "progress".
We then made our way back east on Fairview, noting the wonderful original houses still on the block there. Everyone seemed to have a memory of that part of town, especially as we made our way back closer to Beach Street and Ballough.
Once across Beach Street, we congregated at the western base of the Main Street bridge to prepare for my favorite leg of the walk, around the area known as Orange Island. Not many of the attendees even knew about this area, which is situated between the river and Ballough, north of Main Street/Fairview. There are a bunch of historic homes along here, especially along Rio Vista drive.
The island was originally home to the Manley lumber mill, and later the Bishop fiber company. The saw mill processed much of the lumber for the area, and the fiber company processed palmetto trees and made brushes and brooms as well.
Here is a pic from the late 1800s across the street on the SE corner of Fairview and Beach...
Continuing around on to Rio Vista...
Now, a picture that I love, which is a picture I used for the cover of the walk page...shot around 1915, from a boat in the river at the end of Anita street, facing west:
The single lone house shown here was built in 1910, and is still awesome today, and still owned by the same family...
Directly across the street, I have some friends, Chris and Mei. They happened to be home, and outside. They saw us coming...they were aware that I was running a walk but they had forgotten. Chris took us into the back yard, then thru the garage then what the heck, he ran 40 strangers directly thru his kitchen, dining room, living room and out the front door. THAT was way cool. Having seen the whole house I can tell you we did not scratch the surface on the coolness, BUT this act completely illustrates what joy I find in walking...you would never have had this happen driving by or on a bike, AND you could drive by the house a thousand times and not know how cool it is inside, or how cool the people living there are.
From there, we headed back to Ballough, and made our way to Lexington...another street that most of the walkers had not known about. It runs a horseshoe from Ballough to the river and back. There are some posh riverfront properties as well as some affordable land locked properties. An interesting area to consider to be, although, for my money, if I won the lottery I would enjoy living on Rio Vista most.
From Lexington, back to Ballough and into the Basin area. We observed the canal feeding the basin as we stood on the bridge over the canal, on Ballough. There are possible plans to make a Marina District from Anita to Marina Grande, to emphasize the shore usage. Plans are to make the Ballough bridge higher to allow marine traffic underneath. We shall see.
Back down Ballough past the old Armory, the old location of the Pepsi and 7up bottlers, Honda City and Daytona Sports Center and all the other lost ghosts from that area as we headed back toward our start point. We jutted east at Sunset Harbor where I showed most everyone a park there that they had no idea existed, underneath the Seabreeze span.
Thus concluded our walk! A HUGE thanks to those who took pics and shared, to the Rawls Vet Clinic and most especially to Chris and Mei for allowing their home to be invaded without warning, and for everyone who came out and participated. We try to do a formal walk annually, usually on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you would like to join our FB group, find us at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/IGUIDB2/.
If you have a suggestion for an area to walk, just let me know. In the past we have done Beach Street Area, Main Street Area and now Ballough.
THANKS!!
