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The Florida Dream, 1957

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By GARY R. MORMINO, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 4, 2007

Fifty years ago, the Florida boom was in full bloom. From Arcadia to Zephyrhills, cattle ranches and orange groves sprouted subdivisions, shopping centers and trailer parks. Never in the history of the state had so many people come so far to invest so much.

What drew senior citizens and young veterans from Kalamazoo to Kokomo? Confidence and prosperity thanks to the G.I. Bill, a Cold War economy, the baby boom, a tract home in Town 'N Country, the restoration of youth in a tropical clime and wanderlust.

Jukeboxes and car radios radiated possibilities of romance and dreams. If doo-wop confused the elders, its message conveyed innocence and romance.

Oh, life could be a dream (sh-boom)

If I could take you up in paradise up above (sh-boom)

If you could tell me I'm the only one you love

Life could be a dream, sweetheart

Florida had always been affordable; now it was also accessible. The Florida Turnpike opened in 1957, the same year planners began platting the new Interstate Highway System.

Hundreds of Americans moved here each day, swelling the population from less than 3 million in 1950 to almost 5 million a decade later.

The automobile was the cornerstone of the Florida dream in 1957. In Buick Roadmasters and Hudson Hornets, motorists poured into the Sunshine State on thoroughfares with magical names: Orange Blossom Highway, Old Spanish Trail, Scenic Highlands Highway. A gallon of gasoline sold for 29.9 cents, and a new Chevrolet Bel Air convertible went for $2,511.

The automobile reshaped everyday lives. Drive-in banks and drive-in movie theaters seemed logical extensions of a car culture, but a drive-in church? In 1953, an enterprising clergyman converted the Hillsboro Drive-In on West Hillsborough Avenue into the Hillsboro Drive-In Church. By 1957, the experiment was so successful, the congregation hired Millard Mount as its first full-time pastor.

Dreams On Installment Plans

The Florida dream unfolded most dramatically in unincorporated Hillsborough County, not Tampa. Officials chose a sandy tract of land running along an obscure, unpaved road called Fowler Avenue - not downtown Tampa - to locate the new University of South Florida.

North Dale Mabry Highway pointed the way to a new avenue of dreams.

In 1957, Al Austin, Matt Jetton, and Mandell and James Shimber purchased the Webb Dairy Farm, 600 acres of land northwest of Tampa. Town 'N Country was born.

The same year, Jetton purchased 200 acres of orange groves and unveiled the original Carrollwood.

Across the Bay, sleepy Pinellas County exploded, too, as orange groves yielded to bulldozers. Instant cities appeared. Sidney Colen gambled everything to create a community of modest two-bedroom homes with tile baths, tile roofs and terrazzo floors. He named his creation Kenneth City, after his son.

Even the working classes could afford the Florida dream. Adamo Acres, astride the "Beautiful Palm River" (today a ditch called the Bypass Canal), offered three-bedroom homes for $79 a month. One could buy a lot at Avon Park Lakes for $300 - $25 down and $5 a month.

Waterfront Hopes

The Florida beach was the most desirable place to be, an irresistible combination of natural beauty and romantic sensuality. If critics complained that mom-and-pop, concrete-block motels were replacing quaint wooden cottages while blocking the view from Gulf Boulevard, few paid attention. Such was our wonderment and love of saltwater and sand dunes.

Even the waterfront was affordable. In Treasure Island, one could purchase a two-bedroom, two-bathroom waterfront complex, including a rental unit above, for less than $10,000. A beach motel at 13050 Gulf Blvd. boasting four "clean as a dinner plate" units was offered for $12,500.

Waterfront property was so irresistible, so desirable, that developers and compliant politicians paved the way literally and figuratively to create land out of water.

Dredge and fill made possible finger canals and waterfront living where mullet once leaped.

Everything and anything was possible in 1957. The Prophet Isaiah's words came true in places like Hudson, Cape Coral and Palm River: Wet was made dry, hot was made cool and the crooked became straight.

In 1957, Gary R. Mormino dreamed of playing shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. Instead, he writes and teaches about the Florida dream at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. E-mail him with your memories of the Florida dream years at gmormi

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