The train tracks used to go
down the center of Main St. from 11th to the St. John's River.
About half way down there was a train yard which contained a
turntable to change the direction of the locomotive as well as space to
work on the trains off the main line. Horses were
harnessed
to the train to swing it around. The horses were stabled in
the
next block so they were accessible as quickly as possible.
Several years after they were no longer needed, the building on the
property became a neighborhood grocery store situated close to the corner. The owner knowing of the horse
stable began growing vegetables. They grew very well in the
land
the horses had grazed on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When I was growing up, the only fish
house in town was at the foot of Madison Street and I lived at 111
Madison Street. In fact, when I grew up blue crabs were not fished
commercially. A couple of neighborhood kids and myself would
catch them off the back dock of the fish house and swipe some salt and
oleo from our house and boil them up outside over a wood fire
pit.....Don Guthrie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The men who logged the
timber for Wilson
Cypress herded the logs down the river by boat to the mill.
Sometimes they would string a net behind the
boat.
When the logs came in there was a steam hose and a big drum by the
waters edge. They would dump the shrimp in and turn the steam
on
them and eat them right out of the barrel. That was some good
eatin'.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I was
the bat boy for the old Palatka Azaleas for a couple of years.
Part of my job was rubbing the baseballs with clay before the
home games. I also learned some Spanish words, but none that
could be used in mixed company. The best part of that job was
getting to ride the team bus to away games and eating out. That
was quite a treat back then.
... Don Guthrie
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