JAX CURIOSITIES: STREET SWEEPER

(Source of picture: 1916 financial report for the City of Jacksonville)

The City of Jacksonville bought this motor-driven street sweeper in 1916.  The vehicle's sign says "Committee on Public Works."

The municipal government was becoming more motorized at the time,  but it still relied in part on animal power, such as from horses and maybe mules.  The Public Works department proved no exception.  Take a look at these excerpts from a 1916 financial report:

"Owing to the installation of wagons to take the place of dump carts, the department was enabled to operate with a less number of stock, resulting in the sale of twenty-six head... The cost of shoeing was $1.25 per head (over $21 in today's currency), with the exception of the Fire Department which cost $1.50 per head, the difference being on account of the size of shoes... During the year there were shipped from the (sanitation department's) stables to the Prison Farm twenty (railroad) cars or 654 13/20 tons of manure."

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