FLORIDA

Florida county plates issued from 1911 to 1917 are included on the Florida Pre-state State page because it was a state law that required their issuance.  County plates were mandatory in addition to the state registration, and with a city license (if required) many cars could have carried three license plates at the same time!  Although the state began motor vehicle registration in 1905, cities continued to have the authority to license vehicles as well, and did so until January 1, 1918, when a new state law took effect prohibiting all city and county registration except for vehicles for hire.  The state introduced a number of "For Hire" plate categories in 1922, leading us to believe that local for hire registration only existed from 1918 to 1921.  The earliest documented city registration ordinance is that of Jacksonville, passed in 1904.

Brooksville (979)

A 1913 disc is known.

Daytona (3,082)

An ordinance was passed on February 11, 1901, for the licensing of drivers.  Another ordinance to levy fees on automobiles for hire was passed on January 19, 1904.  A new ordinance, passed on September 2, 1908, required metal numbers issued by the City Clerk to be mounted on an owner-provided background or plate.

Fernandina (3,482)

Three series of undated porcelain plates are known from this county-seat city just north of Jacksonville.  Only the 1915 issue has a dated motorcycle plate which gives us a clue for one of them:

      Undated White/Blue    #17 - 28

      Undated Green/Orange   #8 - 46, Undated Motorcycle #12 - 14

      Undated Yellow/Black  #32 -   , 1915 Motorcycle     #8 - 20

Jacksonville (57,699)

During this era, Jacksonville was the largest city in Florida.  The city passed its first ordinance to require registration in 1904.  According to the June 22, 1904, issue of The Horseless Age, the license number was to be displayed in figures 3 inches tall.

An ordinance requiring annual city-issued plates took effect on October 1, 1910, and this registration year (October 1 to September 30) remained in effect through 1917.  Most of the yearly plates were undated, and have had to be figured out by their color schemes alone;  luckily, some have been found with the matching-year Duval county tag still attached.  While motorcycle plates were dated, their colors did not always match.  The 1910/11 and 1911/12 auto plates have block-style numbers while the 1912/13 and 1913/14 issues have rounded numbers.  The 1910/11 through 1913/14 series were porcelain while the 1914/15 to 1916/17 issues were flat steel.  Oddly, the 1912/13 Garage plates are marked "DEMONSTRATION" instead of "GARAGE", and numbered without letters.  All known issues, colors and numbers are listed in the following table:

YEAR      COLORS             PASSENGER     MOTORCYCLE     GARAGE

1910/11   Black on White     #160 - 1037

          White on Blue                      #9 -  93

1911/12   White on Blue       #18 - 1633                  #Q-2, W-2

          Blue on White                    #217 - 299

1912/13   Yellow on Black    #115 - 2047    #84 - 429     #15 - 141

1913/14   White on Green      #25 - 2264    #33 - 477     #P-1, Q-6, R-1,

                                                           R-4, S-4

1914/15   Black on Yellow    #716 - 2011

1915/16   Red on White       #251 - 1142

1916/17   White on Black    #3375 - 6974

Jacksonville was merged with Duval County as one entity in 1968.

Key West (19,945)

Two 1916/17 porcelain plates are known, Private #175 and Public #286.  The Public plate is larger, possibly because its first digit is a "2", which is wider than a "1".

Miami (5,471)

An automobile ordinance was passed on September 1, 1904, setting speed limits, which were revised by a new ordinance passed on April 23, 1906.  Another ordinance was effective December 26, 1910, requiring registration with the City Clerk for 25 cents, and providing for the display of a rear plate with the letter "M" and numbers 3 inches tall.  Non-residents were exempted for 10 days before having to register. 

An undated leather plate #M100 is known and believed to be from about 1910  (Photo ALPCA FEB-99 p.19)  An undated dual plate is known with hand-painted brown numbers on a flat cream base.  The top line has the number 2002 followed by a slanted "FLA", while the bottom line has the number 277M.  Since the state number was issued in 1910, it is reasonable to conclude that the Miami number was also assigned then.

According to the Miami News on November 23, 1911, "City Clerk Moore states that 491 motorcycles and automobiles are registered in the city books."  It reported on September 5, 1912, that numbers were up to 740.

A Miami Herald news article on January 1, 1914, states that 836 automobile licenses were issued in 1913:  616 private use, 68 public use, and 152 motorcycle.  A 1913/14 disc #34 is known with the legend "AUTOMOBILE PRIVATE USE ONLY".  A 1914/15 aluminum shield-shaped tag #20 is known with the same legend, and a 1915 tag is also known.  A period photo of a car bearing two license plates on the front gives us further clues:  Above the 1914 porcelain Dade County plate is an undated leather-type plate #M906.  This suggests that the 1910 ordinance was changed at some point to require pairs, and that the undated series may have continued through 1914, and possibly until October of 1915.

Another Herald article on August 14, 1915, provides a few details:  "October 1st, the new automobile license tags for the city of Miami will be received and distributed, according to announcement of William B. Moore, city clerk, yesterday.  The new tags will be a trifle larger than the county tags...  Fifteen hundred tags have been ordered.  Whether there will be any charge for the city license, Mr. Moore was not yet at liberty to say, this action requiring the sanction of the council.  It is expected that a fee ample to cover the cost of the tags will be levied, however."  (For reference, the 1916 Dade County plates were 4" x 9".)  The 1915/16 plates were made by the Baltimore Enamel and Novelty Co.

A subsequent article on December 12, 1915, describes a shipment of motorcycle plates:  "Five hundred motorcycle tags have been received by City Clerk W. B. Moore.  The tags, ordered several weeks ago, arrived yesterday, and are very sporty in color, some of them being rich purple, while others are yellow.  They may be had for $1."  We have no idea why motorcycle plates would have been produced in two color combinations.

The Miami News published a lengthy report on January 12, 1917, giving lots of detail on city and county plates:  "With 1,624 motor vehicles already licensed in the city of Miami...City Clerk W.B. Moore is beginning to be afraid that his supply of 2,000 license tags is going to fall short of the amount needed.  There are already 358 more motor vehicles in the city of Miami, according to the licenses issued, than there were at the close of the last license year, on September 30.  Of the 1,624 motor vehicles in Miami, 1,174 are automobiles for private use, 155 are cars for hire, 124 are trucks and 171 are motorcycles.  So far this year 2,312 licenses have been issued for motor vehicles by the county, 1,854 being for private cars, 179 for cars for hire, and 289 for motorcycles."

A 1916/17 embossed white-on-black plate #1178 is known, with "MIAMI" vertically at left, "FLA" vertically at right, and "AUTO-16-17" at bottom.

Ocala (4,370)

An ordinance was passed on April 26, 1905, requiring owner-provided plates.

(Orlando (3,894)

 Reported by Rich Feinhauer to have issued registrations.)

Pensacola (22,982)

An ordinance was passed on March 27, 1907, effective March 30, 1907, requiring a permit from the city marshal and an owner-provided single plate with white 5-inch-tall numbers bearing the permit number on a 6-inch "patent leather background."  No fee was mentioned.  A legal case, Anderson (for city) v. Wentworth, mentions a city automobile ordinance passed on September 26, 1917, and effective October 1, 1917.  This could have been a special arrangement to handle the last 3-month period before state registration took over.

Plant City (2,481)

An undated black-on-white porcelain plate #291 is known with "PLANT CITY" at top and "FLA" vertically at right.

St. Augustine (5,494)

A 1915 embossed plate is known, as are 1916 Private white-on-red porcelain plates #124 to #235 and a 1916 Hire red-on-white porcelain plate #224.

South Jacksonville (1,147)

This town was incorporated in 1907, and later annexed to the City of Jacksonville in 1932.  Three undated white-on-blue porcelain plates are known.  #21 and a pair of #54 are passenger plates believed to date from 1912.  Another porcelain plate, #1, is marked "MOTORCYCLE".

Tampa (37,782)

An ordinance was passed on October 11, 1904, requiring automobile owners to register with the City Clerk and paint their license number on the rear of the vehicle and on the headlights.

The Tampa Tribune reported on July 16, 1908, that the "First new auto tag under the new regime of Tampa was issued yesterday to Harry Minich, he having purchased a Buick car.  The tag was numbered 208, showing that number of chug wagons in the city."

Ordinance #523 was passed August 16, 1910, and effective August 28, 1910.  It provided for examination and licensing of drivers, and registration with the City Clerk.  There was apparently no fee for the registration itself.  Numbers were to be displayed on the rear of the automobile in figures at least 3 inches tall.

From various articles in the Tampa Tribune, we know that on July 15, 1910, "City Clerk Johnson has 499 automobiles registered on his books."  The September 4, 1910, issue listed all automobile owners from #1 to 524 since inception, which apparently was some time ago.  On January 1, 1911, there were 550 automobiles; this number had risen to 650 on July 23, 1911, and 785 on January 1, 1912.

On October 25, 1911, the Tampa Tribune reported that "James N. Bryan...recommended that the city purchase fifty more auto tags, 140 to 150 having been exhausted."  It would seem that plates were city-issued by this time, but not annual.

Ordinance #672, passed January 27, 1914, and effective February 3, 1914, provided for annual rear city-issued plates, with fees of $1 per automobile and 50 cents per motorcycle.  Three types were issued:  Private, Hire and Motorcycle.  The 1914 plates began issuance March 6, 1914, and were to expire December 31, 1914.  1,300 automobile and 400 motorcycle plates were ordered for 1914.  The 1917 plate order included 2,300 automobile and 200 motorcycle plates.

The following categories and plate numbers are known for 1914-17, all of which are porcelain:

      1914 Private   #1 - 1195, Hire #1635

      1915 Private  #29 -  686, Hire #1173, Motorcycle #74

      1916 Private #765 -  862

      1917 Private #162 - 1811,             Motorcycle  #1

West Palm Beach (1,743)

Two years of dated porcelain plates are known:  1915 #123 and 1917 #116 to #117.

Zephyrhills (100)

A 1916 brass-on-green embossed plate #22 is known with "ZEPHYRHILLS,FLA." at top, "AUTO" sideways at left, and "1916" sideways at right.  A 1917 embossed plate is also known.