JJ is stepping back in time and bringing back some of the history (some would say infamous history) of Rankin County. Here is another article from the archives of the Clarion-Ledger that tells the story of two duelists who managed to kill each other. One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight.... The newspaper reported on August 29, 1946:
East Jackson's night spots, main source of revenue in Mississippi "Black Market" liquor taxe, were closed tight last night after two men were killed in a pistol duel early Wednesday morning on the dance floor of the Shady Rest Club".
Constable Norris Overby and Gold Coast boss Sam Seaney argued and then started shooting at each other. Rounds struck each man and both fell down to the floor. However, the duel did not end upon their collision with the ground as each man continued to shoot at the other while lying on the floor. Both men died of their wounds.
20 comments:
Thanks KF so much for posting this !
As a child, I heard the story many times because one of the dead was a relative.
Pretty cool to see it in print.
It is actually pretty fun when you read through papers from 70-100 years ago. Interesting to see how things were reported at the time. I'm going to post one tomorrow that is not related to the Gold Coast.
The front pages from 1939 were pretty scary to read because there were four or more stories about Europe and Japan posted every day.
Second screen image has the Polio report. What life in the US was like before vaccination. Warm weather brought epidemic paralysis and death to young people every year.
Good stuff, thanks for providing it. I just wish I could read those newspaper images.
The late comedian David Brenner grew up in Philly, where the Philadephia Bulletin maintained and sold copies from a large library of back issues.
One of his favorite stunts while riding the subway to work was to buy a back issue and read it on the train with the front page facing outwards so other riders could see a headline like "GERMANY INVADES POLAND"
You noticed that, too.
You should be able to read them if you blow them up. MS Office photo editor worked for me.
I haven't read an account of it (yet) but, was prostitution also present on The Gold Coast, along with that malodorous alkeehawl?
It's pretty remarkable too when reading about the polio epidemic to remember that once Jonas Salk developed the vaccination, his focus was getting to everyone, not how much money he could make. But, that's when medicine was about curing ills ...a profession not a business.
I love the old Gold Coast stories. My Dad visited a few disreputable establishments in the back seat of his brothers car and would get a root beer in a brown paper bag.
Here's another story put together by a gambling chip collecting group.
http://www.thechipboard.com/archives/archives.pl/bid/399/md/read/id/1320424/sbj/illegal-of-the-day-mississippi-8/
Salk's discovery got himself a Nobel Prize, which led to fame and fortune for him. The brightest docs and scientists can still hope for that. AFAIK he didn't give his fortune away and die penniless.
Less talented docs aren't in that competition.
Norris Overby was my uncle. I have heard this story many times.
Don't hold back. Tell us more.
I cannot add any details to the killings, but the old Gold Coast has a history. There were many joints that sold liquor and a few other things illegally. Most customers came from Jackson across the old bridge next to the old Roterserie Restaurant. The area has always
looked seedy to me. The Gold Coast is a big reason why Rankin County stayed dry for so long.
David
My father delivered the mail on the Gold coast during the early 50's and 60's. When
Christmas season arrived most of the operating boot legging joints gave him a 1/2 pint each year.
My mother tells a story of a club that was built on the corner old 49 and old Brandon Rd, she worked at the Jitney on Fortification. The new club had plastered Jackson with flyers about the opening, this was about 43 or 44. Her and her friends went and saw a great 2 story venue. It was burned to the ground the next day.
Thanks, JJ, for writing about Rankin County's Gold Coast. I'm hoping your readers will want to read more about the state's prohibition years in Mississippi in my book entitled Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How Bootleggers and the Law Kept a Dry State Soaked (Arcadia Publishing/The History Press, March 16, 2015.)The book includes chapters about the Gold Coast, the Gulf Coast, Durant, Leland, Vicksburg, and other locales in Mississippi where illegal liquor was sold. Copies are available at independent bookstores and retail establishments throughout the state and can be ordered online at http://historypress.net, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and booksamillion.com. E-book, Kindle, and Nook copies are also available online.
Please do pull out more articles from storage for us! It's interesting to see how much difference there is when we say "News" in the past compared to now.
I grew up in Jackson but the Gold Coast was way before my time. But I always heard about all the juke joints on Casey's Lane. I drove down it two days ago, Fannin Rd also. I'm just fascinated with this Gold Coast history right now and would love to see some old pics of those roads in their prime but I can't seem to find any online.
Pictures are hard to come by. People just didn't take pictures back then as we do today and it was so long ago. I mean, people I know who really remember it and not as a kid riding with daddy through the drive thru are in their 80's now.
Exactly Kingfish! Pawpaw did retire from the old Knox Glass on Flowood Dr and I can remember traveling down Casey's Ln with him and seeing all the junkyards back in 79. Even then was way beyond the Gold Coast days. There's no telling what you could find in the thin stretch of woods on the river side traveling Casey's Ln.
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