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| Aerial image of early Deltona |
OK, I know, it's a bit far-fetched to write about the 1960s when I describe the blog as having a late 1800s-early 1900s focus. But Florida still wasn't heavily developed in the early 1960s.
One of the most interesting aspects of that decade is the way planned communities took hold in the state. One of the companies that led the movement was the family-owned Mackle Company.
I recalled their influence when my hubby found an amazing 1960s video in which one of the Mackle brothers spoke at length about the company's many initiatives in the state. The video seems to have been filmed in the late 1960s or possibly early 1970s.
Mackle mega-developments have taken some rap over the years. But on this video you'll hear some prescient comments. Frank E. Mackle Jr. predicted water as the resource needing the most careful shepherding. He spoke about the need for what we today call greenbelts and about how the Mackles included parks in their planned communities.
The Mackles' Florida communities were launched more than half a century ago and today are some of the state's large cities. The one I'm most familiar with is Deltona, as I live near there. The photo with this blog post shows the community when construction was in full boom, in the late 1960s. The empty land at top right helps illustrate the before-and-after.
Today, Deltona is a city of more than 90,000 residents. It's the most-populous city in the county I live in. My city of residence, founded more than a century earlier in the 1870s, has about 35,000 residents.
The other Mackle communities across the state also mushroomed - Spring Hill, Marco Island and others. Marco Island was the upscale one, but the others offered truly affordable housing.
In the early 1960s, a one-bedroom house with lot included cost just under $7,000 in Deltona. That comes in at about $79,000 in today's dollars. Today's tiny houses in planned communities tend to start somewhere in the $300,000s.
The Mackle-built communities faced growing pains, as you can read in a 1985 Orlando Sentinel* article. But they continued growing. The Mackles did a lot of advertising and public relations, and people responded.
The company even displayed one of their Florida houses at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. I remember. I saw it and walked through it. My eight-year-old self was mightily impressed. Didn't known at the time it was a Mackle house in Deltona. I only saw a bright, airy depiction of the Florida dream.
That dream is still bringing people today.
*In my defense for writing about the 1960s, the newspaper article says that Deltona opened with only eight homes and that "Newcomers felt like pioneers in the middle of Florida woods and brush."
My mother purchased a lot in Deltona in the early 60's, paying for it from the grocery money. My parents went on trips to NYC once a year and I can only assume that's where she heard about it. We lived in R.I. In 1973, my parents were going to a conference in Miami for my dad's work, and mom had received the deed for the property a few months before, so she mentioned it to my dad. They drove up to Deltona and checked it out. They spoke with builders and found a house plan they liked. By August 1974 we packed up and moved to Deltona, living in a campground in a small RV and pop up camper til our house was completed. All the streets were completed throughout the whole development when we moved in, but not all the street signs were up. Deltona had some grocery stores and commercial development. There was Deltona Jr High on the edge of Deltona, which my siblings and I attended. Sr high was in Deland. My siblings moved away more quickly than I did. I met and married my husband and we purchased a house in Deltona, living there from 1984 to 1988. My parents lived there until 2001.
ReplyDeleteChristina, what a beautiful story! The first time I saw Deltona was in 1977 when I moved to Florida from the North. Even then, there wasn't much in Deltona yet. So different than it is today. Your family were pioneers there! What wonderful memories you must have. Thanks so much for sharing. :)
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