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FT 20160517 5A

World War II provided Florida with u nprecedented economic growth and r evived areas that had been crippled d uring the Great Depression. Defense contracts led to construction jobs, and then other civilian employment opportunities after military facilities were built. Rural landowners often benefited financially from the construction of military installations through government purchase of their property. The impact of military facilities coming to an area was not always posit ive. Sometimes entire communities w ere lost. The impact on African-Ameri can neighborhoods was usually negative. “African-American communities became prized targets to build military bases, because they were the cheapest lands that were available,” Hutchinson said. “Because African Americans didn’t have any real political strength in terms of resisting this, they often found themselves wiped off the map.” Starkeis about 50 miles southwest of Jacksonville. Today, Starke is best known as the home of the Florida State Prison. In 1940, Starke was a rural community of about 1,400. Starke changed radically when the town was chosen as the site of Camp Blanding. During World War II, Camp Blanding became Florida’s fourth-largest city. “There was a call for construction workers to come build the camp,” Hutchinson said. “Suddenly, Starke was deluged with people. Some 32,000 migrants arrived to the community looking for a job. This is still the Great Depression, so the opportunity for a government job at a government pay scale was incredibly attractive.” People came from as far away as the Midwest seeking construction jobs at C amp Blanding. “It was in some ways both a benefit and a thorn in the side of Starke,” Hutchinson said. “Starke benefited t remendously, economically, from the a rrival of these soldiers, but Starke had a difficult time with its limited infrastructure, processing and dealing with thousands of new people.” Other Florida communities were s ignificantly impacted by the expan- s ion of existing military installations. “ Pensacola, for example, was a community with a longstanding military presence, but World War II really h eightened the demand for labor t here,” Hutchinson said. “The Pensacola Naval Air Station hired 15,000 civilian workers to run its facilities. You have thousands of Floridians leaving t he fields and going to work in the cities n ear these military bases.” D uring World War II, Florida’s population exploded. Key West had 13,000 residents in 1940 and 45,000 by war’s end five years later. Miami almost dou- b led to more than 325,000. “ One of the lasting impacts these m ilitary bases have is it brings in millions of non-Floridians to the state for the first time, who see Florida’s beaches, Florida’s climate, and many of the s oldiers that are stationed in Florida d uring the war are going to come back t o Florida after the war as permanent residents,” Hutchinson said. Military Continued from Page 1A FLORIDA MEMORY During World War II, Camp Blanding became the fourth-largest city in Florida. After the war, many of the soldiers who trained there would r eturn with their families as permanent residents of the state. Through the years in Brevard The World War II military buildup in Florida had a major impact on Brevard County. In 1939, the Navy bought 1,900 acres of scrub land south of Cocoa Beach to build the Banana River Naval Air Station, now known as Patrick Air Force Base. Planes from the base flew coastal patrols during the war. Besides buying the land, the federal government also poured millions of dollars in building what is now State Road A1A and replacing wooden bridges to the barrier islands with concrete spans. In 1942, the tiny Melbourne-Eau Gallie airport was converted to Melbourne Naval Air Station. Within months, more than $5 million in improvements were made to the airfield. Now it is Orlando Melbourne International Airport. W hat is now known as Space Coast Regional Airport was opened in 1944 as the Titusville Gunnery Range, under the control of Sanford Naval Air Station. J ust west of Brevard County, a small civilian airport was leased by the Army and was designated O rlando Army Airfield #2 and later Pinecastle Army Airfield. In 1958, it was renamed McCoy Air Force Base, named for a pilot killed in a crash. Which is why when you fly into the Orlando I nternational Airport today, your luggage stickers read “MCO.” About the author Dr. Ben Brotemarkle is executive director of the Florida Historical Society. He’s also host of the weekly public radio program “Florida Frontiers,” broadcast locally on 90.7 WMFE and 89.5 WFIT. The public television series “Florida Frontiers” can be seen locally on WUCF-TV. M ore information is at www.myfloridahisto- ry.org
Article from 17 May 2016Florida Today(Cocoa, FL)
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