Wreck on Highway 90 Leaving Milton Florida …
For those of you that travel Highway 90 or live in the Milton area are familiar with the bridge across Pond Creek. Well, I have found some negatives from a wreck that occurred at that bridge back in the 1950’s between a Greyhound Bus and a pick-up truck. I do not have any details about the wreck, but I just want to show you what the bridge looked like and you will also see the area surrounding the bridge. Sixty something years ago, this bridge was wooden and there was nothing but dirt and scrub oaks around. You were still several miles from downtown Milton, which only took up two city blocks before you came to Blackwater River and once you crossed the river, you went back to dirt and scrub oaks … and maybe a few pine trees here and there. OK, enough talk, here are some photos …
These views you are looking east toward the bridge and Milton. The first you were maybe 200 feet from the bridge and the second shot you were maybe only 50 feet from the bridge.
All of these photos you have been looking east. Since this is an MP directing traffic, my guess that the vehicle that ran into the bus might have contained military personnel. Whiting Field is no where near this bridge, so the MP would have no reason to be in the area unless he was just driving by and wanted to help. In the middle photo you see where they are connecting the tow truck to bus and if you look real close in the first photo, you see the tow truck on it’s back two wheels with it’s front wheels completely suspended three or four feet off of the ground. They must not have had these huge commercial tow trucks that you see towing 18 wheelers down the interstate back in the 1950’s. Another photo …
This photo is from the middle of the bridge looking west. You can the wooden timbers that run across the bridge pretty good in the top photo. I would imagine that an insurance adjuster representing the Greyhound Bus Company hired my father, but I have no way of knowing. But as I usually say, that is not my purpose here … my sole purpose is just to show things / times as they were. My thoughts were … can you imagine taking a trip in an un-air conditioned Greyhound Bus across the United States on two-lane county roads with no interstate? The interstate system was still 7 or 8 years from starting and at least 15 to 18 years from finishing ! I do not think that they started the Interstate until the early sixties and did not completely finish until the mid to late seventies. Thanks again for looking and I am sure that there are a few of you that remember this old wooden bridge across Pond Creek … let us hear from you … Frank
12th Avenue Aerial Photograph 1940’s …
I posted this aerial photograph a long time ago, but I thought that I would post it again since I have posted several photos of the old Sacred Heart Nursing School building recently. Notice that the stores across from the old Sacred Heart Hospital have not been built yet. It just looks like a parking lot at the present time … I posted a photo that my father had made showing it with automobiles and the hospital in the background. It is many posts back, but I am pretty sure that I have posted the photograph. I am not really sure when this aerial was made, but I would say sometime in the late 1940’s … I do not know when the stores were built across from the old Sacred Heart Hospital, early 1950’s if I had to make a guess. You can see the roof of the original NB Cook school on Cervantes diagonally from the Sacred Heart Nurses School if you look close. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
First Methodist in Snow …
This photo was taken back in February 1957, when it snowed so hard and there were several inches on the ground for a day or so. Notice the snow on the roof of the church. I found this photo years ago and I started to remove the telephone pole and parking meters out front, but it was just too much trouble to do. Let me rephrase that statement … I was spending too many hours on removing the objects and I still had a lot of hours to go before I had every item taken out. This is going to be a job that I have to pay someone to do for me if I want it done correctly. Taking out the objects is not the hard and time consuming part, it is replacing parts of the image to make them blend in with the original setting. So I thought that I would just post it the way it is and see what type of response I get, if I get any at all. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
The Operation …
Here is another photo of an operation in progress from back in the 1940’s. It looks as if the surgeon has on some type of gloves, but neither he or the nurse has on any type of mask. Obviously this was not some type of major surgery or I doubt that my father would have been allowed in with his camera, but back in the day you never know. I do not have any idea who the doctor was or the nurse either. If anyone knows, please let us know … thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Pensacola High School Football Team in the 1950’s …
I found three negatives of this team in different variations years ago and finally sat down and worked one up. The other two are in very bad shape and has sections missing and are in terrible shape. This was the easiest to clean-up and make presentable. I would have to guess that this team was in the 1950’s sometime. Notice how each manager is wearing a white jump-suit with a number on one side and the abbreviation for “Manager” on the other side. No clue what the numbering means or meant. Maybe someone will know and be able to tell us. I know that the author, Rick Fountain, who wrote an excellent book recently on the history of the Pensacola High School Football team reads this blog occasionally and he might be able to shed a little light on this group photo of the team. Thanks for looking and if you know any information on this group, please share it with us. Thanks again for looking … Frank
Building the School of Nursing …
This is a photo of the foundation when they were constructing the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in around 1945 or 46. You cannot tell by looking at the building in the previous post, but the building is built in the shape ” W ” . This just show the two outer sides … there was another section in the center that housed a small auditorium, or at least it was back then and when it was a school. You can sort of see where there are extending the center part of the foundation in the photo above. If anyone remembers the building being built and has any comments along that line, please let us hear from you. Even if you don’t remember the building being built, but attended nursing school in this building, please let us hear from you, also. Well, even if you attended the Academy of Arts and Sciences in this building, we would like to hear from you, too. I ran across some old negatives from my high school days, and if any of the old alumni would like to see some old Academy photos, let me know and I will clean them up and post them. Thanks for looking … Frank
Old Sacred Heart Hospital Nursing School …
This building on 12th Avenue used to be the home of the old Sacred Heart Hospital Nursing School. I am not sure of the years that it was built and was the school and home for the nurses of Sacred Heart Hospital. From 1969 until around 1979, it was the home of the Academy of Arts and Sciences … this was were I went to high school for 10th, 11th and 12th grades and graduated in 1971. I believe there were 55 kids in my class. If you look real close you will see three nuns and two nurses in this photo, which was made sometime in the 1950’s, I would guess. I have posted a view from the other side earlier, but this is the first from the south end looking north. If you happen to know the years when this was the nursing school, please let us know … Thanks for looking … Frank
Pensacola Ski Team …
Not Snow Skiing, WATER SKIING ! I found some negatives a while back from the 1970’s that my father had taken of the Pensacola Ski Team / Club. I do not know any of the girls, but a few look vaguely familiar. I am sure that this was taken at the Bonifay’s ” Ski Beach ” on Bayou Texar. For some unknown reason, this was the only negative I scanned … I will have to go back and find the negative envelope and scan some more. Thanks for looking and if anyone can identify any of these girls, please do. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Baylen and Government Streets …
This is the corner of Baylen and Government Streets in 1960. In today’s Pensacola News Journal Sunday Edition ( 3 Nov 13 ) the attorney firm that occupies the corner where George’s Grill is located had an ad celebrating their 25 years in business. The ad had a nice photo showing the exterior of their office building. I remember that I had seen this negative years ago and tracked it down and posted it to show how times have changed. This view was made 53 years ago and none of these building are no longer there. The Professional Building was torn down years ago to make way for the new Escambia County Annex building and garage. Next to the Professional Building was Mayes Printing and Office Equipment, which moved out to Car City in the 1980’s ( ? ) , not sure of the date. I do not remember George’s Grill, but I remember Mayes and the Professional Building. Thanks for looking … Frank
Sacred Heart Nurses …
Here are several examples of nurses portraits that my father used to do in the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, before the nursing school closed down on 12th Avenue. The name on the girl’s dress reads ” Broughton ” . The girl’s name below I could note read. I will have to find the negative envelope that these came out of to see if there are names written down . But that is not my point … I just wanted to post several examples of portraits that my father made of these girls when they graduated. It isn’t funny how you just say “girls” and don’t think about men being nurses in this era. I cannot even tell you a date when men started entering the nursing program … maybe one of the viewers to this blog will be able to tell us. Looking back, after I made that previous statement, I cannot even think back to when I started seeing men working as nurses in the hospitals locally. Here is the other nurse …
I thank everyone for taking the time to view this blog and for those who post comments. Please check back … I have a few images worked up and ready to post and I plan to put them up in the next week or so. Thanks again … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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