{"id":328380,"date":"2026-07-03T12:54:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/328380\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:54:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:54:43","slug":"happy-250th-birthday-america-resident-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/328380\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy 250th Birthday, America \u2013 Resident News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Civic pride marched in 1976 Jacksonville<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400\">Editor\u2019s Note: Flashbacks is a recurring series of short vignettes contributed by the Jacksonville History Center that shines a light on the people, places and moments that have shaped Jacksonville\u2019s rich and complex history. Each installment offers readers a glimpse into the stories \u2013 both celebrated and lesser-known \u2013 that continue to influence our city today.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Float-22-RET-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cIn God We Trust\u201d was the theme of the Heritage Award-winning float in the July 4, 1976, parade. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center\" class=\"wp-image-61650\"  \/>\u201cIn God We Trust\u201d was the theme of the Heritage Award-winning float in the July 4, 1976, parade. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fifty years ago, America\u2019s bicentennial was observed on Sunday, July 4, 1976. In Jacksonville, however, the celebrations lasted the entire month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jaxsons had a variety of events to enjoy \u2013 some at venues that no longer exist \u2013 including baseball games (the Jacksonville Suns at Wolfson Park), live performances, art shows and other events such as a bicycle race at the Gulf Life Building, \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d \u2013 a marionette show \u2013 at the Roosevelt Mall, table tennis matches at Exhibition Hall, and a picnic at Boone Park with music by Dale Crider and the Peyton Brothers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FANG-Jet-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Bicentennial Commissioner George Linville poses with Florida Air National Guard pilots next to an Air Force F-106A fighter jet decorated for America\u2019s Bicentennial. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center\" class=\"wp-image-61648\"  \/>Bicentennial Commissioner George Linville poses with Florida Air National Guard pilots next to an Air Force F-106A fighter jet decorated for America\u2019s Bicentennial. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The July 4th Bicentennial Parade is noted as the city\u2019s largest parade to date, drawing more than 275,000 people downtown for events and activities throughout the day and evening.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ERA-Now-1975-RET-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"The Independence Day parade in 1976 included women marching in support of the Equal Rights Amendment in Florida, which has never ratified it. | Photo: Jacksonville History Center Collection\" class=\"wp-image-61649\"  \/>The Independence Day parade in 1976 included women marching in support of the Equal Rights Amendment in Florida, which has never ratified it. | Photo: Jacksonville History Center Collection<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also throughout the month of July, many well-known artists drew crowds to the Civic Auditorium, the Alexander Brest Planetarium, the Gator Bowl and the Coliseum, including the Moody Blues, Loggins and Messina, Jimmy Buffett, Fleetwood Mac, New Riders of the Purple Sage, George Carlin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Outlaws, Neil Young and Stephen Stills, and Tammy Wynette.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Proclamation-RET2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Owner of a real estate company and president or chairman of more than 60 organizations in his 80-year lifetime, George Linville, shown here left with Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler, served as president of the year-long American Bicentennial Commission of Jacksonville in 1976. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center\" class=\"wp-image-61646\"  \/>Owner of a real estate company and president or chairman of more than 60 organizations in his 80-year lifetime, George Linville, shown here left  with Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler, served as president of the year-long American Bicentennial Commission of Jacksonville in 1976. | Photo: George Linville Collection\/Jacksonville History Center<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Town-Post-Front-Cover-RET-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The centerfold of the \u201cTown Post,\u201d a 16-page tabloid newspaper, listed all the events \u2013 free or otherwise \u2013 in its Bicentennial issue, aptly named Bi-, Bi- American Pie. | Photo: Jacksonville History Center Collection\" class=\"wp-image-61651\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6670102502433717;width:200px;height:auto\"  \/>The centerfold of the \u201cTown Post,\u201d a 16-page tabloid newspaper, listed all the events \u2013 free or otherwise \u2013 in its Bicentennial issue, aptly named Bi-, Bi- American Pie. | Photo: Jacksonville History Center Collection<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contributed by The Jacksonville History Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Civic pride marched in 1976 Jacksonville Editor\u2019s Note: Flashbacks is a recurring series of short vignettes contributed by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-328380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}