Tanzler's greatest contribution to downtown was healing a sick and neglected St. John's River. In , industrial and agricultural pollution, toxic chemicals and 15 million gallons per day of untreated sewage flowed from 77 untreated outfalls into the river and its Duval County tributaries. The city increased sewer taxes, replaced outdated sewer lines and closed ineffective sewage treatment plants. The mayor celebrated the closing of the last of the untreated outfalls in June by skiing on the river with performers from Cypress Gardens.
Although pollution continued to plague successive administrations, bold brush strokes on the downtown canvas had been made. The s was the 'Billion Dollar Decade' in Jacksonville as downtown development capped the Godbold years. Hampered early in his first term by a nationwide recession, Godbold nevertheless made solid progress transforming downtown, using the river as a focal point.
Godbold worked to convert the empty Union Station on the western fringe of downtown into a convention center, helping gain City Council approval in Focusing on the St.
Johns River, the 1. Those developments included the completion in June of the Rouse Company's Jacksonville Landing with its distinctive orange roof, retail stores, eateries and a courtyard perfect for entertainment. The downtown canvas had changed during Godbold's two terms, but work remained when Mayor Tommy Hazouri took office in Hazouri had campaigned on two issues crucial to a vibrant urban core: eliminating the city's infamous stench and removing traffic-choking toll booths on downtown bridges.
The primary contributors to the odor problem were two paper companies, two chemical producers and the city's own Buckman sewage treatment plant. Noticeable improvement to the city's noxious air began soon thereafter. Traffic flow to and from downtown was necessary for sustained growth and development.
In March , voters narrowly backed a Hazouri-supported referendum to replace toll booths with a half-cent sales tax increase; by the end of the year, tolls on the Mathews, Fuller Warren, Hart and I Trout River bridges were a thing of the past.
Hazouri's support of county-wide projects such as parks, environmental cleanup, public safety, libraries and senior centers tempered his effort to remake downtown. Austin's contribution to the downtown portrait was the River City Renaissance. Overcoming opposition from suburban developers, Austin promoted urban renewal in LaVilla. He succeeded in removing dilapidated housing, but the demolished structures were not replaced with the anticipated medium-income housing or with significant business development in LaVilla.
Two important Austin contributions to downtown came with the new City Hall at St. James, built in the shell of the vacant May-Cohen department store, and the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, a project that combined public and private funding and added cultural sparkle to the river's north bank.
Moving city hall from its riverside location to Hemming Plaza initiated development of a downtown 'government center. Today's 2. Under Austin, the initial 0. The effort to extend the line east along the north side of the river never materialized, although it would have ended at the site of what some residents considered the most important downtown development of the s: the home of the new Jacksonville Jaguars National Football League franchise, announced Nov.
Austin chose not to pursue a second mayoral term. His replacement in , Mayor John Delaney, envisioned a comprehensive. Working as hard for passage of a half-cent voter-approved sales tax increase to fund the ambitious program as he did on his own election campaign, Delaney packaged the program to include something for everyone. Under the plan, the urban core would gain a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment arena, a classic-styled minor league baseball stadium, Florida's largest public library and, ultimately, a new county courthouse.
Pushing hard on the projects, Delaney opened the arena and baseball stadium before leaving office in and saw the new main library open in October Continuing development of the government center begun by Austin, Delaney negotiated with the Government Services Administration to build a new federal courthouse on land west of Hemming Plaza provided by the city.
Downtown Jacksonville remains a work in progress and the administration of Mayor Alvin Brown artfully wielded its special brush, and successive administrations will no doubt do the same. Downtown Jacksonville remains a receptive canvas on which to paint the future. French garrison at Ft. Caroline, Spanish garrison at Ft. Camp Cuba Libre was established as the Commisary Depot for the 7th Army Corp during the Spanish American War and housed nearly 30, volunteers from across the country.
In addition, 8 inch breach loading rifles were laboriously hauled up St. John's Bluff in , only to be removed in The complex had more than buildings and the second largest rifle range in the country. In , what had been Camp Foster became Naval Air Station Jacksonville, which boasted an assembly and repair shop covering 1,, square feet with doors feet wide and 45 feet tall. Naval Station Mayport was commissioned in and has since grown to be the third largest fleet concentration area in the United States.
The history of Cecil Field dates to the early years of World War II when new military bases were built across the United States to fight a two-front war. Akron , a helium-filled rigid airship.
HITRON is charged with conducting two missions; interdicting and stopping suspected drug-laden, high-speed vessels known as 'go-fasts,' and Maritime Homeland Security.
Lumber was a major business in Jacksonville prior to the Civil War, though Jacksonville consisted of only about residents in Tourism was big business in the s as wealthy northerns sought to escape winter in warmer climes. After the building of the jetties in the late s, port business grew.
Jacksonville was the first film center during the silent movie era. The development of military bases after World War II had a dramatic effect on the economy, as did the attraction of insurance and banking headquarters. In , the National Football League awarded its 30th franchise to Jacksonville. Global Navigation City of Jacksonville , Florida. As a port city, Jacksonville played a major role in the Union blockade of the Confederacy and it was occupied by Union troops four times.
The population grew with both freed and runaway slaves seeking safety and a new life. As with many Southern cities, Jacksonville suffered both property damage and economic devastation due to the war. Its location as a port city again proved to be valuable, however. A new item was soon imported into the city — tourists. By the late s, the area was drawing 70, people annually seeking a respite from the cold northern climes.
Downtown hotel buildings expanded and communities along the beautiful beaches began to grow. As the railroad expanded south across the river, however, the tourists had a means for exploring other parts of Florida. At the same time, a yellow fever epidemic spurred tourists southward.
The spark that started the devastating Great Fire of , in which over 2, buildings burned to the ground, may have ignited the trend for transformation that Jacksonville needed. From the ruins of a colonial frontier past emerged a modern skyline of concrete and stone.
A public library donated by Andrew Carnegie was built in The first paved road connecting the city to the beach was opened in The new industry of film production came to the city in the early s and was an important part of the economy until World War I.
Growth spread from the downtown center to outlying areas in the s. By , electric trolley cars linked the two sides. The city became a major transportation hub for those investing in the Florida land boom. In , the City of Jacksonville and the county of Duval merged into a single governmental unit in order to improve how services were delivered. This created an entity that is nearly square miles, the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States.
Steward, the first AME pastor in the state, Pearce began to raise funds to build a school. As the neighborhood developed, Jewish and Italian immigrants populated the neighborhood along with other ethnic groups, creating one of the most interesting communities in the city. Hart and his wife. He was an ardent champion of human rights and an advocate of free formal education for Negro boys and girls. It was the first school of education for black children in Jacksonville and its surrounding counties, and was the first school for black children in the State of Florida.
Construction began on the St. James Hotel within three years after the Civil War. Numerous additions to the building during the next 20 years expanded it to occupy the entire block, making it the largest in Jacksonville. The St. The large dining room could serve over guests at one time. Following the destruction of its church during the Fire, plans were immediately made to erect another building on the same site.
Upon its completion, the church was renamed Snyder Memorial, in honor of the former pastor E. Snyder, whose children had donated generously toward the rebuilding effort. Lee was elected to the Florida Legislature where he served for six years before being elected to the senate.
He was later appointed as a municipal judge, Custom Collector of the Port of St. Johns, and Collector of Internal Revenue. It was later renamed Hotel Duval and was destroyed by fire in A new Hotel Duval was built on this site the following year.
The site is also significant as the location of the first permanent home in what is now Downtown Jacksonville, a log cabin built for Lewis Z. Hogan[s] in When the tourist season was over, the hotel and St. James Park Hemming Park were gathering places for many Jacksonville area residents.
The first church building was a small one-room wooden structure located on the corner of Church and Hogan Streets in downtown Jacksonville, called Union Congregational Church. It was dedicated on January 9, There was no facility to care for the numerous poor and sick people who arrived daily by train and boat.
In the deaths of several indigents aroused Myra Mitchell, Susan Hartridge, and Anna Doggett, to establish a public facility to tend the sick.
Within three months they had raised enough money to open the first St. In , the Old Brewster Hospital building was moved to its present location from its original site at West Monroe Street. When it was constructed in , its architect, Robert S. Schuyler, had already established himself as an experienced designer of Episcopal churches. Andrews is currently owned by the Jacksonville Historical Society and plays host to many private events Downtown.
African-American brass bands played a prominent part in the life of the growing city. In response to declining tourism due to the expansion of railroads west to California and south to St. It was an event of such importance, President Grover Cleveland, his youthful bride, and a delegation of congressmen scheduled a trip.
Yellow fever. Yellow Jack. Some contracted just a touch of fever. Others suffered from an agonizing array of symptoms that left about dead and more than 4, sick — about one-third of the estimated 14, people who did not flee Jacksonville in terror.
The Board erected its permanent headquarters on Julia Street. The land, then known as Raspberry Park and formerly used for a city jail, was deeded by the City of Jacksonville to the State as an inducement for the Board of Health to locate there. By , he had built numerous houses and businesses, but lost most of his buildings in the Great Fire of May 3, By , Blodgett had constructed another two hundred and fifty-eight houses.
One of the more noted buildings designed and constructed by Blodgett was the Lawton L. By , the city had become home to 15 cigar manufacturing companies and thousands of Cuban immigrants. Erected in , the clubhouse was built of Florida brick with a stucco finished front and originally had a tile roof.
The second-story window configuration and broad overhanging roof show the influence of the Prairie style of architecture, its earliest appearance in Jacksonville. The flared hips of the main roofline and of the two dormers suggest an Oriental flavor. Stanton School, that preparations were made to commemorate the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln and for a visit from the well-known Negro leader, Booker T. The principal for the student school was James Weldon Johnson.
Sensing the significance of the day and the guest speaker, Principal Johnson put his poetic skills to work and crafted a poem fitting the occasion. In eight hours, city blocks were gone, along with every public building but the U. Post Office.
The glow in the sky was seen in Savanna and Miami. The city would smolder for days. Its members occupied several buildings prior to the construction of this sanctuary in , with the building previous to this one having been destroyed in the Fire.
In , Mr. In a design competition was held and architect H. Thirty-seven years later its members commissioned H. Klutho to design its headquarters. This seven-story structure marked the beginning of his commitment to an architectural movement pioneered in the Midwestern United States by such architects as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.
James Building was the magnum opus of Jacksonville architecture and of the architect Henry John Klutho. Prior to the Fire, this site was occupied by the St.
After the St. On February 13, , at the Windsor Hotel downtown at Hemming Park, 14 businessmen met and officially organized. Members gathered for lunch weekly at the Windsor Hotel and later at the Aragon Hotel.
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