Latest from History
Latest History articles from Jacksonville, FL
Then and Now - Progress in Downtown Jacksonville
Preserving history - such a simple concept, apparently so difficult to execute. When a historic building is demolished, some people say, That's progress. Yes, that's true, but is all progress good?
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Where Are The Trolleys Now?
The story goes that the Jacksonville Traction Company got its historical start when an African American man found a four wheel tram, built a car body on it, and went into the street railroad business. While that may sound far fetched today, it should be remembered that many different trams and rails...
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A Walk Through History: Old City Cemetery
Established in 1852, the Old City Cemetery on East Union Street, is one of the most overlooked and underrated historic sites in Jacksonville's urban core.
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Florida's Largest Trolley System: Jacksonville Traction Co.
Let's take a walk back in time and visit Jacksonville's past. We once had the Jacksonville Traction System, which included operations on the Ortega Traction System and South Jacksonville Municipal Railways. With nealy 60 miles of track, this was by far the largest Streetcar system in Florida...
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Downtown Frankenstein! Rewind to Blight
Last Episode? Cars. This one? Blight. Negroes. Civil Rights Violence. Racist Swine. Clever Engineers.In the sad and sadly predictable saga of how Jacksonville built a great swinging city by the river only to dynamite it back into the stone age and salt the earth to prevent any business community...
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Downtown Frankenstein! Rewind
Blight. Transportation. Race Riots and Civil Rights. Recreation. Regional Thinking. Cars. In order to begin our series on the wholesale destruction of the historic downtown, it is important to understand the reasoning and ideas which made it possible. After all, it really wouldn't make sense to assume...
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Distinguish Jacksonville: The Silent Film Industry
For nearly 20 years, Jacksonville was the perfect film location for the movie industry. Several production companies, including Kalem, Selig, Edison, Lubin, Vim, King Bee, Encore, and Eagle operated studios locally. Local politics forced the industry to relocate out west, turning a sleepy town called...
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Distinguish Jacksonville: The Great Fire of 1901
In just over eight hours on May 3, 1901, a small fire, started in a LaVilla mattress factory, would sweep through 146 city blocks of Jacksonville, destroying over 2,000 buildings, taking seven lives, and leaving almost 9,000 people homeless in the process.
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Distinguish Jacksonville: Prairie School Architecture
Over time, many cities have left their mark on our architectural landscape. New York has its Brownstones, Charleston the single house, and Chicago School of Architecture in the Windy City. Believe it or not, our own city has earned the right to be mentioned in this conversation.
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Downtown Frankenstein: LaVilla Style
La Villa was once known as the Little Harlem of the South . It was the home to a diverse collection of ethnic establishments, such as the Boston Chop House, a soul food joint known for its trotters swithes (pigs feet and tail) and the Hollywood Music Store. Its decline began with I-95 slicing...
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