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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 262/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

Although many of the families in the county still did not own
automobiles—the five state highways were still the only paved
roads in the county aside from city streets—gasoline rationing
provided a problem for residents and businesses dependent upon
gasoline. Herbert E. McDaniel of the Office of Defense Trans­
portation had jurisdiction over Columbia and adjacent areas and
carried out the government’s mandates for gasoline curtailment
with vigor. Columbia County’s initial quarterly request for its fleet
of five trucks was for 1,800 gallons but McDaniel pared that to 602.
Lake City businessman T. A. Daniels had difficulty in obtaining
sufficient gasoline to haul pilings to Jacksonville for the expansion
of the shipyard and naval air station, until finally federal authori­
ties in Jacksonville approved a certificate for several thousand
gallons. Extension and 4-H activities also were sharply affected by
gasoline rationing.19
The Lake City Naval Air Station was commissioned by the
Navy on December 8, 1942, a year and a day after Pearl Harbor.
Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia played a key role in
obtaining the facility for Lake City, and Dewey W. Cole, a private
aviator of Columbia County, was instrumental in obtaining
Russell’s assistance. Lake City was one of eleven naval air stations
in the state and provided important training during the war. The
airport and facilities were returned to civilian use on November
15, 1945, after the war ended.20

19Anderson, ‘‘The History of the Extension Home Economics Program,” p. 9;
Herbert E. McDaniel to H. B. Summers, June 21, 1943, Folder M, County
Commissioners File 1942-1943; T. A. Daniels Oral History Interview, Florida State
University Oral History Collection, pp. 7-8.
20Cox and Dovell, Florida, p. 203; Century in the Sun, p. 58; Jessie Gleason
Interview.
198

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