Memories of a Different Time
By Doug Carroll - SBHS Member
My family moved to Melbourne in 1950. Our first home was on Prospect Avenue, directly across from Guerin and Dare Lumber. A steam locomotive would stop on our street and dump hot coal in a shallow ditch. My mother was hired to douse the coals with a garden hose!!
In 1956 my parents were in the market to buy their first house and saw an ad for new homes in the Tradewinds sub-division. We went to look at the model home, but couldn’t come to an agreement on price. As we were driving away, the salesman came running out of the house and flagged us down. My parents ended up buying that model home after all and lived there the rest of their lives.
On weekends we often went for a drive. One of my favorite places was South Tropical Trail, where saw grass lined both sides of the street in many places. Residents would put out mangoes and other fruit, along with a bowl where you could leave your payment. I also enjoyed our drives over the Eau Gallie Causeway Bridge. It was so narrow you thought the cars would scrape the paint right off of each other. But the most harrowing of all was the noise from the planks, sounding as if they were popping up on the ends. It was like being on a circus ride!!
In the 1950’s the Boy Scouts planted Australian Pines on both sides of the Melbourne Causeway. During the summer we would stop at the Ice Plant on U.S. 1, pick up a block of ice and go park between the pines, have a picnic and fish. You could wade out into the river and swim, as there were no boulders along the shore back then. Growing up in Melbourne was great fun for a young boy.
April 2016
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