Editing Jacksonville, Florida (section)

====1940 to 1979====

[[File:Vice President Nixon delivering campaign speech in Hemming Park - Jacksonville, Florida.jpg|thumb|Crowd gathered for a campaign speech from [[Richard Nixon]] in Hemming Park in October 1960]]
During [[World War II]], The [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] became a major employer and economic force, constructing three Navy bases in the city, while the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] established Blount Island Command.

Jacksonville, like most large cities in the United States, suffered from many negative effects of rapid [[urban sprawl]] after [[World War II]]. The construction of federal highways essentially subsidized development of suburban housing, and wealthier, better established residents moved to newer housing in the suburbs. After World War II, the government of the city of Jacksonville began to increase spending to fund new public building projects in the postwar economic boom. Mayor [[W. Haydon Burns]]' ''Jacksonville Story'' resulted in the construction of a new city hall, civic auditorium, public library and other projects that created a sense of civic pride. Development of suburbs led to a growing middle class who lived outside the urban core. An increasing proportion of residents in Jacksonville's urban core had a higher than average rate of poverty, especially as businesses and jobs also migrated to the suburbs.<ref name="census"/>

Given the postwar migration of residents, businesses, and jobs, the city's tax base declined. It had difficulty funding education, sanitation, and traffic control within the city limits. In addition, residents in unincorporated suburbs had difficulty obtaining municipal services, such as sewage and building code enforcement. In 1958, a study recommended the city of Jacksonville begin annexing outlying communities to create the needed larger geographic tax base to improve services throughout the county. Voters outside the city limits rejected annexation plans in six referendums between 1960 and 1965.

On [[Ax Handle Saturday|August 27, 1960]], a white mob attacked civil rights demonstrators in [[Hemming Park]] with clubs. The police largely stood by.

In 1962, a federal court ordered the city to prepare a plan for integration of public schools, in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' (1954). A study found schools were in poor condition and poorly equipped.

On December 29, 1963, the [[Hotel Roosevelt fire]] killed 22 people, the highest one-day death toll in Jacksonville.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-12-28/story/roosevelt-hotel-fire-22-people-died-blaze-heroes-prevented-total-being|title=Roosevelt Hotel Fire: 22 people died in blaze, but heroes prevented that total from being even higher|last1=Soergel|first1=Matt|date=December 28, 2013|access-date=October 11, 2016|newspaper=[[The Florida Times-Union]]}}</ref> On September 10, 1964, [[Hurricane Dora (1964)|Hurricane Dora]] made landfall near [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], causing major damage to buildings in North Florida. Hurricane Dora was the first recorded hurricane to make a direct hit to North Florida.<ref>{{cite web|title=Remembering Hurricane Dora|url=http://www.jaxhistory.org/remembering-hurricane-dora/|website=Jax History|date=September 8, 2016|access-date=October 11, 2016}}</ref>

In the mid-1960s, corruption scandals arose among city and some county officials, who were mainly part of a traditional white Democratic network that had dominated politics for the decades since the [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement of most African Americans]] at the turn of the 20th century which effectively hollowed out the Republican Party. After a [[grand jury]] was convened to investigate, 11 officials were indicted and more were forced to resign.
[[File:Jax Consolidation Headline 1967.jpg|thumb|right|News of Jacksonville's consolidation from ''[[The Florida Times-Union]]'']]
In 1963 the [[Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]] threatened to withdraw accreditation of area schools in a year because of "instructional deficiencies". But voters refused to approve new taxes to improve school conditions. In late 1963, Duval County was spending $299 per student compared to the state average spending of $372 per student. In 1964 all 15 of Duval County's public high schools lost their accreditation.<ref>[http://www.qeafund.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Timeline-2016-Version.pdf "Public Schools in Duval County: Timeline of Major Events, 1864–2014"], Jacksonville Public Education Fund, 2014; accessed June 10, 2019</ref> This added momentum to proposals for government reform.

[[Jacksonville Consolidation]], led by [[J. J. Daniel]] and [[Claude Yates]], began to win more support during this period, from both inner-city blacks, who wanted more involvement in government after passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], that provided federal oversight and enforcement of their right to vote, and whites in the suburbs, who wanted more services and more control over the central city. Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of the community, better public spending, and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government.

When a [[Consolidated city-county|consolidation]] referendum was held in 1967, 65% of voters approved the plan. On October 1, 1968, the city and county governments merged to create the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. Fire, police, health & welfare, recreation, public works, and housing & urban development were all combined under the new government. In honor of the occasion, then-Mayor [[Hans Tanzler]] posed with actress [[Lee Meredith]] behind a sign marking the new border of the "Bold New City of the [[American South|South]]" at Florida 13 and Julington Creek.<ref>{{cite web|title=Consolidation's Most Famous Photo |url=http://www.jaxhistory.com/journal11.html |work=Jax History Journal |publisher=Jacksonville Historical Society |access-date=March 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228013235/http://jaxhistory.com/journal11.html |archive-date=February 28, 2012 }}</ref> The consolidation created a 900-square-mile entity.