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Willard Dudley(1971 ) (1971)
Fernandina Beach, once filled with black owned beach front property, hotels, clubs, ocean horse back riding, car racing and more. Fernandina beach was the place to be. On weekends it was filled with buses from everwhere from florida, georgia and alabama. everybody wanted to play on the beach and in the sand dunes. The dunes had their own story. The clubs would even have top entertainers. Part of the fun for us in Atlantic beach, jax beach and mayport was catching the ferry from one side to the other to get to the beach. you had to get back to the ferry before 11:00 because it stopped making the crossings and if you missed it you had to go all the way around jacksonville to get back home. What happened? Their was also a beach south of Fernandina call American beach. it was fun, a nice public gathering spot, but nothing like Fernandina. the first thing that happened to Fernandina was property tax increase. White corporate money wanted the property so bad that they priced the residents out of their property. Some blacks sold because of the money they were offered, others sold because they could'nt afford to pay the taxes. Additionally, there came along a small resort that became a big resort that systematically consumed Fernandina beach bit by bit on its south side. That property is what is known as Amelia Island. Another thing they did to eliminate traffic in American beach was designate it a historical geological site. Therefore it limited the fun you could have on the beach like playing in the dunes, digging and driving on the beach. Did'nt want to distrub the indian artifacts. Unfortunately history has shown this practice all along the eastern coast. There are still a few families there. where does it end ?
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