Jacksonville was a very different city in 1950. According to the U.S. Census, its was a dense, pedestrian-scale city that was home to 204,275 residents. Twenty-four-thousand workers were employed in the city’s 350 manufacturing establishments. There were 175 parks within city limits, with a total of 1,070 acres of dedicated parkland. Of the city’s 60,050 residential units, only 30% were owned by their occupants. Only about 380 miles of the city’s 641-mile street network were paved. Residents also had access to four daily newspapers.

In 1950, most of the city’s 78 wharves and port terminals were located along the Downtown riverfront. Principal exports were iron and steel, lumber and millwork, naval stores, cotton and fabrics, and wood pulp. Chief imports were petroleum products, fertilizer and materials, gypsum rock, bananas, green coffee and newsprint. To accommodate the port’s growth, the dredging of the river to 34 feet was nearing completion.

As a result, a decade before the opening of Interstate 95, Main Street had become a congested highway bringing thousands through Downtown on a daily basis. This forgotten scene was captured by T. W. Kines in a series of photographs taken in January 1952, courtesy of the National Archives Catalog.