To organize and document my research and findings, I spent most of the week inputting newspaper articles and metadata into the Google Sheet while adding to the circuit visualization. Several circuit sites remained in the “unidentified information” sheet—sites mentioned in secondary literature without definitive locations and/or addresses. Using a combination of traditional and digital history resources, I wanted to attempt to locate a few by searching by name and owner to find their location. First was the 2 Spot in Jacksonville, described as “palatial” in the FORUM article.
Searching for “Two Spot” in wide preliminary search led me to a post on JaxHistory.org, published by the Jacksonville Historical Society. Featuring an aerial photo of the Two Spot site with several buildings and ventures alongside photos of the interior, the post provided a history of the site and its relevance to entertainment and social scenes within the community. It identified James Craddock as the owner, giving the location as "at 45th & Moncrief in the northwest portion of the city."
Aiming for a more specific site address, I turned to city directories—a traditional source accessed digitally through Ancestry. Well aware of the limits of directories in their physical medium (both in terms of accessibility, and functionality or ease of searchability), accessing Jacksonville’s records from a computer in Sanford was certainly a moment of appreciation for digital repositories! Entries only gave the location of Craddock's 2 Spot as on the corner of 45th and Montcrief, so the location on the data visualization is approximate.
With a site and owner name, I found entries throughout the years, detailing the chronology of the community, city, and Craddock’s life. Starting with a cigar store and billiards hall, over the years, Craddock expanded his operations throughout Jacksonville to become a prolific and successful businessman. 1944 City Directory lists, "in the heart of Jacksonville's Colored Business District," his Hotel Charlie Edd is the only one among those on the page which contains reference to welcoming an African American clientele. The 1947-48 City Directory shows how his operations expanded into many, often lucrative enterprises. Inputting the address of the Hotel Charlie Edd on our map, there is a potential connection. Its proximity to the Ritz Theater makes it a likely candidate for providing accommodations to Circuit performers.
Inspired by the wealth of information found by looking up Craddock in the city directories, I applied the same process to verify the location of the Two Spot in Sanford, discussed in Week 10. The history of its owner Clayton Thomas is an intriguing one among the vibrant atmosphere of rural venues for entertainment and social gathering, often on the periphery of adjacent towns and their jurisdiction.
Allegedly a lieutenant of Florida crime boss and organizer of illicit operations (including bolita) Harlan Blackburn, Thomas was once shot outside his Club 436 under suspicious circumstances. He was unable—or, according to some accounts, unwilling—to identify his assailant and was reportedly reluctant to cooperate with police. It remains up to one’s interpretation whether this hesitancy was the product of having dangerous enemies in the underground world of organized crime who frowned upon bringing their activities to the attention of law enforcement, or if it was reluctance to interact with representatives of a legal system engineered to bar Black citizens from due process or seeing justice.
In the rural community of Midway, adjacent to a town far smaller than Jacksonville, locating Thomas’ Two Spot presented more difficulty than Craddock’s. Now aware of Thomas’ name, I input it in the Property Appraiser’s database. There, I found a warranty deed between Clayton Thomas and Bertha Thomas in the subdivision Sanford Grove. It concerns the transfer of property between the two parties, including the Two Spot which is identified as Lots 12, 13, 21, and 22. After accessing the Sanford Grove plat map on the Property Appraiser’s website, attempts to place these lots onto the modern landscape proved complicated as only one street identified on the plat map was extant.
Searching Newspapers.com, I came across a June 15, 1986 Orlando Sentinel article which not only featured a map of the site’s location but a photograph of the structure as well. The map confirmed I was looking in the right area, showing the Two Spot’s location off SR-46 but across from Sipes Ave. and making my previous theory of the Two Spot’s location unlikely. Knowing from Ms. Bea Martin that the Two Spot was in close proximity to Millennium Middle School, I thought to further supplement this information by asking other sources of local knowledge: my co-workers at the Sanford Museum.
Asking if the site in the photo, located in the general area I narrowed down, was familiar, it was identified as Freddie B’s Soul Food. Searching for this business name reveals a building with identical features to the one in the picture. Not only does the building appear identical, but Millennium can be seen in the background as well as a street sign which identifies the cross streets as SR-46 and Brisson Ave. Now aware of its spatial location and with additional information, I could better define my search parameters. I found a Lease Agreement which further supports the accuracy of this location as Thomas’ Two Spot by naming the establishment alongside its location on the "corner [of] Geneva & Brisson Ave."
Another Orlando Sentinel article from March 4, 1990 discusses how the closing of the Two Spot leaves only the Cool Breeze as “the community's lone hot spot.” There is even mention of the same signs I described in Week 10. So while my guess of 2341 Sipes Ave. as the Two Spot was incorrect, it is that of another site in the Midway area—the Cool Breeze, No. 2.
Locating and identifying Craddock and Thomas' sites, as well as the Cool Breeze No. 2, means three more sites identified! These are now confirmed and added to both the data visualization and any other relevant references or records.
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