Tag Archives: Old Plank Road

New Story: Jacksonville Velodrome

Posted on August 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

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Finally, Wallace McGregor was ready for business. He’d spent more than a million dollars on the facility and bought ads in the newspaper. But they’d come to call it “Wally’s Folly.”

It’s still out here, like a mysterious sign from a buried and lost civilization. It’s not too late. Cast your dreams in concrete.

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Tagged Aaron Fulton, Brandy Branch Florist, Charlie Fetzer, DeLand Raceway, Double-A Ranch, Doyle Carter, Jacksonville Baldwin Rail Trail, Jacksonville history, Jacksonville Velodrome, jaxpsychogeo, Lakeshore Bicycles, McGregor Ranch, Morry Merriam, Old Plank Road, One Spark, Rails-To-Trails, Tim Gilmore, Wallace McGregor, Wally McGregor, Wally's Folly, West Beaver Street, West Volusia Saddle Club, Yellow Water

Wild Bill of Jax and His Leprosy

Posted on March 14, 2019 | Leave a comment

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“Will Bill of Jacksonville” had come back home, but outside a small circle of family and friends, he kept his diagnosis a secret. Not only did the disease frighten people, but in this Bible Belt town, it resonated as the plague of the Old Testament.

The Board of Health moved to quarantine his mother’s home on Rural Route 5 in the small western Duval County community of Hart Haven. “In closing,” he wrote, “let me give your readers, each and every one, a personal invitation. I assure you that when you leave, your outlook and perspective on life will be different.”

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Tagged Banished: Living with Leprosy, Bible Belt, Bill Clinton, Billy Burton, Carville: Remembering Leprosy in America, Discovery Channel, Hart Haven, I-10, I-95, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Board of Health, Jacksonville Florida, James Carville, jax psycho geo, jaxpsychogeo, Julia Elwood, leprosarium, Louisiana Leper Home, Marcia Gaudet, Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras at Carville, Marietta, Marilyn Kalfus, National Hansen’s Disease Center in Carville, Old Plank Road, Opal Burton, Opel Burton, Rural Route 5, St. Vincent's, Steve Rothman, Tim Gilmore, Wild Bill, Wild Bill of Jacksonville