Video Details
00:01:15, black and white, silent, AA081, S828
Description
This silent film opens with the dedication plaque, which declares that the facility was created “to serve the boating public of this area and those visitors entering the state via the island waterway.” It goes on to show the crowd at the ceremony, including people peering out at a shrimp boat from the balcony. Chairman Wendall Jarrard of the Florida Development Commission is shown on a passenger boat with Welcome Station hosts Arline Hull and Mary Page as well as visiting dignitaries, including Seminole Tribe of Florida Chief Billy Osceola and the winner of the Miss Florida Seminole pageant, crowned as the 1962 Seminole Princess, Connie Johns, Miss Florida 1962 Gloria Brody, and Miss USA 1962 Macel Wilson (the first woman of color to win Miss USA). After an American Legion flag procession is concluded with a man in a feather-capped conquistador costume, Jarrard gives a dedication speech. Key West Mayor C.B. Harvey (left) and Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Pro-Tem Joseph D'Annunzio then symbolically pour water into a container; Jarrard goes on to douse the dedication plaque with the water. The film ends with visitors exploring the interior of the new building.
Personal Subject
Brody, Gloria
Osceola, Billy, 1920-1974
Jarrard, Wendell, 1917-1994
Johns, Connie
Conner, Doyle, 1928-2012
Wilson, Macel Patricia Leilani, 1943-
Butler, Gordon T.
Shave, Thomas J., Jr.
Stratton, Harry O., 1912-1972
Page, Mary
Harvey, C. B. (Cornelius Bradford), 1908-1988
D'Annunzio, Joseph Carlyle, 1901-2002
Hull, Arline
Wettstein, Otto, 1906-1983
Mason, Raymond K.
[Text Of The Plaque:]
The Florida Marine Welcome Station at Fernandina Beach
This facility, the first of its kind in the world, was built by the citizens of this community, and is operated jointly with the Florida Development Commission to serve the boating public of this area and those visitors entering the state via the Inland Waterway.
Dedicated Jan. 13. 1963
The following people were instrumental in its completion
Farris Bryant Governor
Wendell Jarrard Chairman Development Commission
E. J. Smith Mayor
E. J. Johnson. Jr. Commissioner
Ben Sorensen Commissioner
John D. Tiliakos Commissioner
L.L. Bohannon Commissioner
Russell M. Nahm City Manager
M. W. Fishler City Attorney
Holloway, Register & Cummings
Architects & Engineers
The Auchter Co Contractor
Chicago Manual of Style
Florida Development Commission. Film Footage: Florida Marine Welcome Station Dedication Ceremony in Fernandina Beach, 1963. 1963-01-13. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/351338>, accessed 6 July 2026.
MLA
Florida Development Commission. Film Footage: Florida Marine Welcome Station Dedication Ceremony in Fernandina Beach, 1963. 1963-01-13. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/351338>
AP Style Photo Citation
(State Archives of Florida/Florida Development Commission)
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