History of Jacksonville, Florida
Encyclopedia
The city of Jacksonville, Florida
began to grow in the late 18th century as Cowford, but it truly flourished in the time after the American Civil War
, becoming a winter vacation spot. Its development was halted at times by such tribulations as the Great Fire of 1901
, the Florida Land Bust of the 1920s, and the economic woes of the 1960s and 70s, but the city has experienced steady growth in recent years.
The port of Jacksonville has always been a home of the navy
, serving the needs of several countries over the years. The city today is a thriving metropolis with over a million citizens. Due to its consolidated city-county
government structure, it has the largest municipal population among Florida cities, as well as the largest land area of any city in the contiguous United States
.
area. In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical period, the area was inhabited by the Mocama
, coastal subgroup of the Timucua
Indians. At the time of contact with Europeans, most Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa
, centered on Fort George Island near the mouth of the St. Johns River
. One early map shows a village called Ossachite located at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for the downtown Jacksonville area.
In 1513, Spanish
explorers landed in Florida and claimed their discovery for Spain (see Spanish Florida
). The first Europeans to visit the area were Spanish missionaries and explorers from this period. Then in February 1562, French naval officer Jean Ribault
and a 150 settlers were sent out to find land for a safe haven for the French Huguenot
s. Ribault explored the mouth of the St. Johns River
before moving north and establishing the colony of Charlesfort on Parris Island, South Carolina
. Ribault sailed back to France for supplies, but tensions from French Wars of Religion
had broken out during his absence, delaying his return. Without leadership or provisions, the colonists abandoned Charlesfort. In 1564 Ribault's former lieutenant, René Goulaine de Laudonnière
, launched a new expedition to found a colony on the St. Johns River. The settlers sstablished Fort Caroline
atop the St. Johns Bluff on June 22, 1564.
Laudonnière made an alliance with the local tribe of Timucua
Indians, the Saturiwa
, and also forged friendly relations with the Utina
tribe living upriver to the south (around what is now Palatka
and the Lake George
area), who were enemies to the Saturiwa. Ribault intended to resupply the Fort Caroline in early 1565, but was again delayed. As a result the colony faced famine, three mutinies
, and eventually warfare with the Utina. Ribault was finally able to fit an expedition to relieve the fort in the summer, and assumed command of the settlement. However, in the meantime, the Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
had established the colony of St. Augustine
just 35 miles to the south, with the express mission of displacing the French.
Upon his arrival Ribault launched a naval expedition of 200 sailors and 400 soldiers to dislodge the Spanish, but a storm at sea incapacitated them for several days. On September 20, 1565, Menéndez marched his men overland to Fort Caroline, now defended by only 200 or 250 people, and killed everyone except for about 50 women and children and 26 others who had managed to escape. With victory in hand, the Spanish set about picking up the survivors of Ribault's fleet, and summarily executed all but 20.
The Spanish continued to occupy Fort Caroline, which they rechristened San Matteo. This was the scene of one more battle between the French and Spanish in 1568, when Dominique de Gourgues burned it to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt the fort, but abandoned it in 1569. Afterwards, the Spanish build Fort San Nicolas further up the river to protect the rear flank of St. Augustine. "San Nicolas" served as their name for the Jacksonville area, a placename which survives in the neighborhood of St. Nicholas. The fort was located on the east side of the St. Johns where Bishop Kenny High School
now stands, and was abandoned in the late 17th century.
Spain ceded Florida to the British in 1763, who then gave control back to Spain in 1783. The first permanent settlement in modern Jacksonville was founded as "Cowford" in 1791, at a narrow point in the St. Johns River where cattlemen could ford their livestock across; this was some 3000 feet west of the location of Fort San Nicolas. The Florida Territory
was sold to the United States in 1821, and by 1822, Jacksonville's current name had come into use. It first appears on a petition sent on June 15, 1822 to U.S. Secretary of State
John Quincy Adams
, asking that Jacksonville be named a port of entry
. The city is named for Andrew Jackson
, military governor of the Florida Territory and eventual President of the United States. U.S. settlers led by Isaiah D. Hart authored a charter for a town government, which was approved by the Florida Legislative Council on February 9, 1832. Hart is remembered as the city's most important founding father, and is memorialized with the Isaiah D. Hart Bridge
over the St. Johns.
, Jacksonville was a key supply point for hogs and cattle leaving Florida and aiding the Confederate
cause. Throughout most of the war, the US Navy maintained a blockade around Florida's ports, including Jacksonville. In October 1862 Union
forces captured a Confederate battery at St. Johns Bluff and occupied Jacksonville. Throughout the war Jacksonville would change hands several times, though never with a battle. On February 20, 1864, Union soldiers from Jacksonville marched inland and confronted the Confederate Army at the Battle of Olustee
which resulted in a Confederate victory. By the end of the war in 1865, a Union commander commented that Jacksonville had become "pathetically dilapidated, a mere skeleton of its former self, a victim of war."
Following the Civil War
, during Reconstruction and afterward, Jacksonville and nearby St. Augustine
became popular winter resorts for the rich and famous of the Gilded Age
. Visitors arrived by steamboat and (beginning in the 1880s) by railroad, and wintered at dozens of hotels and boarding houses. The area declined in importance as a resort destination when Henry Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railroad to the south, arriving in Palm Beach in 1894 and in the Miami area in 1896. Not even hosting the Subtropical Exposition, a Florida-style world's fair attended by President Grover Cleveland
in 1888, served to provide a lasting boost for tourism in Jacksonville.
outbreaks in 1886 and 1888, during the latter of which nearly ten percent of the more than 4,000 victims, including the city's mayor, died. In the absence of scientific knowledge concerning the cause of yellow fever, nearly half of the city's panicked residents fled despite the imposition of quarantines and the ineffectual fumigation of inbound and outbound mail. Not surprisingly, Jacksonville's reputation as a healthful tourist destination suffered.
, gunrunners helping the Cuba
n rebels used Jacksonville as the center for smuggling illegal arms and supplies to the island. Duval County
sheriff and future state governor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, was one of the many gunrunners operating out of the city. Author Stephen Crane
travelled to Jacksonville to cover the war.
, which started when hot ash from a shantyhouse's chimney landed on the drying moss at Cleaveland's Fiber Factory. At half past noon most of the Cleaveland workers were at lunch, but by the time they returned the entire city block was engulfed in flames. The fire destroyed the business district and rendered 10,000 residents homeless in the course of eight hours. Florida Governor William S. Jennings declared a state of martial law
in Jacksonville and dispatched several state militia
units to help. Reconstruction started immediately, and the city was returned to civil authority on May 17. Despite the widespread damage, only seven deaths were reported.
Young architect Henry John Klutho
had just returned to New York from a year in Europe when he read about the Jacksonville fire and, seeing a rare opportunity, he headed south. Klutho and other architects, enamored by the "Prairie Style" of architecture then being popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
in Chicago
and other Midwestern cities, designed exuberant local buildings with a Florida flair. While many of Klutho's buildings were demolished by the 1980s, a number of his creations remain, including the St. James Building from 1911 (a former department store that is now Jacksonville's City Hall) and the Morocco Temple from 1910. The Klutho Apartments, in Springfield, were recently restored and converted into office space by local charity Fresh Ministries
. Despite the losses of the last several decades, Jacksonville still has one of the largest collections of Prairie Style buildings (particularly residences) outside the Midwest.
In the early 20th century, before Hollywood, the motion picture industry was based in New York City. In need of a winter headquarters, moviemakers were attracted to Jacksonville due to its warm climate, exotic locations, excellent rail access, and cheaper labor, earning the city the title of "The Winter Film Capital of the World". New York-based Kalem Studios was the first to open a permanent studio in Jacksonville in 1908. Over the course of the next decade, more than 30 silent film companies established studios in town, including Metro Pictures
(later MGM), Edison Studios
, Majestic Films, King Bee Film Company, Vim Comedy Company
, Norman Studios, Gaumont Studios and the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Comedic actor and Georgia native Oliver
"Babe" Hardy
began his motion picture career here in 1914. He starred in over 36 short silent films his first year acting. With the closing of Lubin in early 1915, Oliver moved to New York then New Jersey to find film jobs. Acquiring a job with the Vim Company in early 1915, he returned to Jacksonville in the spring of 1917 before relocating to Los Angeles in October 1917. The first motion picture made in Technicolor
and the first feature-length color movie produced in the United States, The Gulf Between, was also filmed on location in Jacksonville in 1917.
Jacksonville was especially important to the African American film
industry. One notable individual in this regard is the European American producer Richard Norman, who created a string of films starring black actors in the vein of Oscar Micheaux
and the Lincoln Motion Picture Company. In contrast to the degrading parts offered in certain white films such as The Birth of a Nation
, Norman and his contemporaries sought to create positive stories featuring African Americans in what he termed "splendidly assuming different roles".
Jacksonville's mostly conservative residents, however, objected to the hallmarks of the early movie industry, such as car chases in the streets, simulated bank robberies and fire alarms in public places, and even the occasional riot. In 1917, conservative Democrat John W. Martin
was elected mayor on the platform of taming the city's movie industry. By that time, southern California
was emerging as the major movie production center, thanks in large part to the move of film pioneers like William Selig
and D.W. Griffith to the area. These factors quickly sealed the demise of Jacksonville as a major film destination.
The Riverside Theater
, which opened in 1927,
was the first theater in Florida to show talking pictures
.
Completion of the Dixie Highway
(portions of which became U.S. 1
) in the 1920s began to draw significant automobile traffic as well. An important entry point to the state since the 1870s, Jacksonville now justifiably billed itself as the "Gateway to Florida."
A significant part of Jacksonville's growth in the 20th century came from the presence of navy bases in the region. October 15, 1940, Naval Air Station Jacksonville
("NAS Jax") on the westside became the first navy installation in the city. This base was a major training center during World War II, with over 20,000 pilots and aircrewmen being trained there. After the war, the Navy's elite Blue Angels
were established at NAS Jax. Today NAS Jax is the third largest navy installation in the country and employs over 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel.
In June 1941, land in the westernmost side of Duval County was earmarked for a second naval air facility. This became NAS Cecil Field, which during the Cold War
was designated a Master Jet Base, the only one in the South. RF-8 Crusaders out of Cecil Field detected missiles in Cuba, precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis
. In 1993, the Navy decided to close NAS Cecil Field, and this was completed in 1999. The land once occupied by this installation is now known as the "Cecil Commerce Center" and contains one of the campuses of Florida Community College
which now offers civil aeronautics classes.
December 1942 saw the addition of a third naval installation to Jacksonville: Naval Station Mayport
at the mouth of the St. Johns River. This port developed through World War II and today is the home port for many types of navy ships, most notably the aircraft carrier from 1995 to 26 July 2007, when Big John was towed away, eventually to be mothballed in Philadelphia (see more at http://www.jacksonville.com/usskennedy). NS Mayport current employs about 14,000 personnel.
Jacksonville is also not far from Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
in St. Marys, Georgia
, which is home to part of the US Navy's nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet.
The naval base became a key training ground in the 1950s and 1960s and as such, the population of the city rose dramatically. More than half of the residents in Jacksonville had some tie to the naval base, whether it be a relative stationed there, or due to employment opportunities, by 1970, necessitating the opening of an international airport
in the area.
.
, who constructed nuclear generating plants, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, who had recently merged with Tenneco
, to create floating nuclear power plant
s at the Port of Jacksonville
.
Construction of the new facility was projected to cost $200 million and create 10,000 new jobs when completed in 1976.
Contracts were signed by Public Service Electric and Gas Company
with PSE&G paying for the startup costs for the manufacturing facility.
Westinghouse named Zeke Zechella
to be president of OPS in 1972.
OPS obtained 850+ acres (3.4 km2) on Blount Island
from the Jacksonville Port Authority
(JPA) for $2,000/acre, then installed infrastructure using over 1,000 workers. A total of $125 million was invested in the property and facility, however; no plants were ever built.
and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights
demonstrations in the 1960s. Black Sit-in
s began on August 13, 1960 when students asked to be served at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworths
, Morrison's Cafeteria
and other eateries. They were denied service and kicked, spit at and addressed with racial slurs. This came to a head on "Ax Handle Saturday", August 27, 1960. A group of 200 middle aged and older white men (allegedly some were also members of the Ku Klux Klan
) gathered in Hemming Park armed with baseball bats and ax handles. They attacked the protesters conducting sit-ins. The violence spread, and the white mob started attacking all African-Americans in sight. Rumors were rampant on both sides that the unrest was spreading around the county (in reality, the violence stayed in relatively the same location, and did not spill over into the mostly-white, upper-class Cedar Hills neighborhood, for example). A black street gang called the "Boomerangs" attempted to protect the demonstrators. Police, who had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, now became involved, arresting members of the Boomerangs and other black residents who attempted to stop the beatings.
Nat Glover, who worked in Jacksonville law enforcement for 37 years, including eight years as Sheriff of Jacksonville, recalled stumbling into the riot. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.
Several whites had joined the black protesters on that day. Richard Charles Parker, a 25-year old student attending Florida State University
was among them. White protesters were the object of particular dislike by racists, so when the fracas began, Parker was hustled out of the area for his own protection. The police had been watching him and arrested him as an instigator, charging him with vagrancy, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. After Parker stated that he was proud to be a member of the NAACP
, Judge John Santora sentenced him to 90 days in jail.
caused in Jacksonville, the very next day, September 11, 1964, over 20,000 fans attended a live concert at the Gator Bowl Stadium
by the British rock-and-roll band, "The Beatles
." The winds were blowing so hard that Ringo Starr
's drumset had to be nailed down to the stage.
Dora was the only storm in recorded history to affect Jacksonville with hurricane force winds, though the city has been affected by weaker storms as well as hurricanes that lost intensity before reaching the area. In September 1999, after Hurricane Floyd
struck the Bahamas
, over one million Floridians were evacuated from coastal areas, many of them from Jacksonville. Mayor John Delaney
announced the mandatory evacuation of the Jacksonville Beaches
and other low lying neighborhoods early on September 14; in total, nearly 80,000 Jacksonville residents left their homes. Ultimately the storm turned northward 125 miles off the coast, causing only minor damage in Jacksonville and the southeastern US before making ground in North Carolina
.
. To compensate for the loss of population and tax revenue and end waste and corruption, voters elected to consolidate
the government of Jacksonville with the government of Duval County
. The move was carried out on October 1, 1968, and Hans Tanzler
, elected mayor of Jacksonville the year before, became the first mayor of the consolidated government. Jacksonville became the largest city in Florida and the 13th largest in the United States, and has a greater land area than any other American city outside Alaska
. All areas of Duval County are considered part of Jacksonville besides the four independent municipalities of Jacksonville Beach
, Atlantic Beach
, Neptune Beach
, and Baldwin
, although residents of these towns vote in city elections and are eligible for services provided by Jacksonville.
Claude Yates
began the "quiet revolution" with the Yates Manifesto and J. J. Daniel was chairman of the Local Government Study Commission. Lex Hester
was Executive Director of the commission and the key architect of Jacksonville's consolidated government, transition coordinator and chief administrative officer following consolidation.
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
began to grow in the late 18th century as Cowford, but it truly flourished in the time after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, becoming a winter vacation spot. Its development was halted at times by such tribulations as the Great Fire of 1901
Great Fire of 1901
The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast. It was similar in scale and destruction to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.-Origin:...
, the Florida Land Bust of the 1920s, and the economic woes of the 1960s and 70s, but the city has experienced steady growth in recent years.
The port of Jacksonville has always been a home of the navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
, serving the needs of several countries over the years. The city today is a thriving metropolis with over a million citizens. Due to its consolidated city-county
Consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...
government structure, it has the largest municipal population among Florida cities, as well as the largest land area of any city in the contiguous United States
Contiguous United States
The contiguous United States are the 48 U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia....
.
Pre-colonial
Archaeological evidence indicates 6,000 years of human habitation in the area. Pottery has been found dating to 2500 BC, the oldest in the United States second to slightly older products in the Savannah RiverSavannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
area. In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical period, the area was inhabited by the Mocama
Mocama
The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their territory extended from about the Altamaha River in...
, coastal subgroup of the Timucua
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
Indians. At the time of contact with Europeans, most Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas...
, centered on Fort George Island near the mouth of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
. One early map shows a village called Ossachite located at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for the downtown Jacksonville area.
Colonial and territorial history
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
explorers landed in Florida and claimed their discovery for Spain (see Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
). The first Europeans to visit the area were Spanish missionaries and explorers from this period. Then in February 1562, French naval officer Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida...
and a 150 settlers were sent out to find land for a safe haven for the French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s. Ribault explored the mouth of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
before moving north and establishing the colony of Charlesfort on Parris Island, South Carolina
Parris Island, South Carolina
Parris Island is a former census-designated place , currently a portion of Port Royal in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,841 at the 2000 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Parris Island is included within the Beaufort Urban Cluster and the larger...
. Ribault sailed back to France for supplies, but tensions from French Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
had broken out during his absence, delaying his return. Without leadership or provisions, the colonists abandoned Charlesfort. In 1564 Ribault's former lieutenant, René Goulaine de Laudonnière
René Goulaine de Laudonnière
René Goulaine de Laudonnière was a French Huguenot explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida...
, launched a new expedition to found a colony on the St. Johns River. The settlers sstablished Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated by the...
atop the St. Johns Bluff on June 22, 1564.
Laudonnière made an alliance with the local tribe of Timucua
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
Indians, the Saturiwa
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas...
, and also forged friendly relations with the Utina
Utina
The Utina, also known as the Agua Dulce or Agua Fresca tribe, were a Timucua chiefdom in northern Florida during the 16th century. The name given to them by their enemies, Thimogona, may be the origin of the word Timucua, now applied to the whole group of related tribes who lived in northern...
tribe living upriver to the south (around what is now Palatka
Palatka
Palatka may refer to:*Palatka, Florida, a city in the United States*Palatka, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Magadan Oblast, Russia*East Palatka, Florida, a census-designated place in the United States...
and the Lake George
Lake George (Florida)
Lake George or Lake Welaka is a broad and shallow brackish lake on the St. Johns River in the U.S. state of Florida.-Geography:Lake George is six miles wide and eleven miles long, with an average depth of 8 feet . The west side of the lake is encompassed in the Ocala National Forest...
area), who were enemies to the Saturiwa. Ribault intended to resupply the Fort Caroline in early 1565, but was again delayed. As a result the colony faced famine, three mutinies
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, and eventually warfare with the Utina. Ribault was finally able to fit an expedition to relieve the fort in the summer, and assumed command of the settlement. However, in the meantime, the Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
had established the colony of St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
just 35 miles to the south, with the express mission of displacing the French.
Upon his arrival Ribault launched a naval expedition of 200 sailors and 400 soldiers to dislodge the Spanish, but a storm at sea incapacitated them for several days. On September 20, 1565, Menéndez marched his men overland to Fort Caroline, now defended by only 200 or 250 people, and killed everyone except for about 50 women and children and 26 others who had managed to escape. With victory in hand, the Spanish set about picking up the survivors of Ribault's fleet, and summarily executed all but 20.
The Spanish continued to occupy Fort Caroline, which they rechristened San Matteo. This was the scene of one more battle between the French and Spanish in 1568, when Dominique de Gourgues burned it to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt the fort, but abandoned it in 1569. Afterwards, the Spanish build Fort San Nicolas further up the river to protect the rear flank of St. Augustine. "San Nicolas" served as their name for the Jacksonville area, a placename which survives in the neighborhood of St. Nicholas. The fort was located on the east side of the St. Johns where Bishop Kenny High School
Bishop Kenny High School
Bishop Kenny High School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational Catholic high school in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located in and administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine...
now stands, and was abandoned in the late 17th century.
Spain ceded Florida to the British in 1763, who then gave control back to Spain in 1783. The first permanent settlement in modern Jacksonville was founded as "Cowford" in 1791, at a narrow point in the St. Johns River where cattlemen could ford their livestock across; this was some 3000 feet west of the location of Fort San Nicolas. The Florida Territory
Florida Territory
The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Florida...
was sold to the United States in 1821, and by 1822, Jacksonville's current name had come into use. It first appears on a petition sent on June 15, 1822 to U.S. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
, asking that Jacksonville be named a port of entry
Port of entry
In general, a port of entry is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has a staff of people who check passports and visas and inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. International airports are usually ports of entry, as are road and rail crossings on a...
. The city is named for Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, military governor of the Florida Territory and eventual President of the United States. U.S. settlers led by Isaiah D. Hart authored a charter for a town government, which was approved by the Florida Legislative Council on February 9, 1832. Hart is remembered as the city's most important founding father, and is memorialized with the Isaiah D. Hart Bridge
Hart Bridge
The Isaiah David Hart Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is named after Isaiah Hart, the founder of Jacksonville. It was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel.-Details:...
over the St. Johns.
Civil War
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Jacksonville was a key supply point for hogs and cattle leaving Florida and aiding the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
cause. Throughout most of the war, the US Navy maintained a blockade around Florida's ports, including Jacksonville. In October 1862 Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
forces captured a Confederate battery at St. Johns Bluff and occupied Jacksonville. Throughout the war Jacksonville would change hands several times, though never with a battle. On February 20, 1864, Union soldiers from Jacksonville marched inland and confronted the Confederate Army at the Battle of Olustee
Battle of Olustee
The Battle of Olustee or Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on 20 February 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.-Background:In February 1864, Major General Quincy A...
which resulted in a Confederate victory. By the end of the war in 1865, a Union commander commented that Jacksonville had become "pathetically dilapidated, a mere skeleton of its former self, a victim of war."
Winter resort era
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, during Reconstruction and afterward, Jacksonville and nearby St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
became popular winter resorts for the rich and famous of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
. Visitors arrived by steamboat and (beginning in the 1880s) by railroad, and wintered at dozens of hotels and boarding houses. The area declined in importance as a resort destination when Henry Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railroad to the south, arriving in Palm Beach in 1894 and in the Miami area in 1896. Not even hosting the Subtropical Exposition, a Florida-style world's fair attended by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
in 1888, served to provide a lasting boost for tourism in Jacksonville.
Yellow fever epidemics
Jacksonville's prominence as a winter resort was dealt another blow by major yellow feverYellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
outbreaks in 1886 and 1888, during the latter of which nearly ten percent of the more than 4,000 victims, including the city's mayor, died. In the absence of scientific knowledge concerning the cause of yellow fever, nearly half of the city's panicked residents fled despite the imposition of quarantines and the ineffectual fumigation of inbound and outbound mail. Not surprisingly, Jacksonville's reputation as a healthful tourist destination suffered.
Spanish-American War
During the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, gunrunners helping the Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n rebels used Jacksonville as the center for smuggling illegal arms and supplies to the island. Duval County
Duval County, Florida
Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...
sheriff and future state governor, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, was one of the many gunrunners operating out of the city. Author Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
travelled to Jacksonville to cover the war.
Great Fire of 1901
On May 3, 1901, downtown Jacksonville was ravaged by the Great Fire—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeastern United StatesSoutheastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
, which started when hot ash from a shantyhouse's chimney landed on the drying moss at Cleaveland's Fiber Factory. At half past noon most of the Cleaveland workers were at lunch, but by the time they returned the entire city block was engulfed in flames. The fire destroyed the business district and rendered 10,000 residents homeless in the course of eight hours. Florida Governor William S. Jennings declared a state of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in Jacksonville and dispatched several state militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
units to help. Reconstruction started immediately, and the city was returned to civil authority on May 17. Despite the widespread damage, only seven deaths were reported.
Young architect Henry John Klutho
Henry John Klutho
Henry John Klutho was an American architect of the "Prairie School" style. He helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville, Florida after the Great Fire of 1901—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeast—by designing many of the new buildings built after the disaster. This period lasted until...
had just returned to New York from a year in Europe when he read about the Jacksonville fire and, seeing a rare opportunity, he headed south. Klutho and other architects, enamored by the "Prairie Style" of architecture then being popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and other Midwestern cities, designed exuberant local buildings with a Florida flair. While many of Klutho's buildings were demolished by the 1980s, a number of his creations remain, including the St. James Building from 1911 (a former department store that is now Jacksonville's City Hall) and the Morocco Temple from 1910. The Klutho Apartments, in Springfield, were recently restored and converted into office space by local charity Fresh Ministries
Fresh Ministries
FreshMinistries is an interfaith, non-profit organization based in Jacksonville, Florida whose goal is to eradicate poverty, improve race relations and build stronger communities. The group is "working to improve people’s lives and bring hope to those living in distressed conditions."-History:The...
. Despite the losses of the last several decades, Jacksonville still has one of the largest collections of Prairie Style buildings (particularly residences) outside the Midwest.
Motion picture industry
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in late 1915 by Richard A. Rowland . Louis B. Mayer who worked for Metro Pictures Corporation early on. It is not to be confused with MGM which is a much later franchise concerning itself, Goldwyn and Louis B....
(later MGM), Edison Studios
Edison Studios
Edison Studios was an American motion picture production company owned by the Edison Company of inventor Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films as the Edison Manufacturing Company and Thomas A. Edison, Inc. until the studio's closing in 1918...
, Majestic Films, King Bee Film Company, Vim Comedy Company
Vim Comedy Company
The Vim Comedy Company was a short lived movie studio in Jacksonville, Florida and New York. Vim bought out Siegmund Lubin's Lubin Manufacturing Company Jacksonville, Florida facilities in 1915 after that company went bankrupt. It was founded by Louis Burstein and Mark Dintenfass. Vim specialized...
, Norman Studios, Gaumont Studios and the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Comedic actor and Georgia native Oliver
Oliver
The surname Oliver is of several different origins.-Etymology:The surname Oliver is derived from the Old French personal name Olivier. The Oliver surname seems to be French Norman in origin. The Olivers were probably part of William the Conqueror's Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066...
"Babe" Hardy
Hardy
-Canada:* Port Hardy, British Columbia* Hardy Island Marine Provincial Park, British Columbia-United States:* Hardy, Arkansas* Hardy, California* Hardy, Iowa* Hardy, Kentucky* Hardy, Nebraska* Hardy, Virginia* Hardy, Mississippi* Hardy County, West Virginia...
began his motion picture career here in 1914. He starred in over 36 short silent films his first year acting. With the closing of Lubin in early 1915, Oliver moved to New York then New Jersey to find film jobs. Acquiring a job with the Vim Company in early 1915, he returned to Jacksonville in the spring of 1917 before relocating to Los Angeles in October 1917. The first motion picture made in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and the first feature-length color movie produced in the United States, The Gulf Between, was also filmed on location in Jacksonville in 1917.
Jacksonville was especially important to the African American film
African American art
African American art is a broad term describing the visual arts of the American black community . Influenced by various cultural traditions, including those of Africa, Europe and the Americas, traditional African American art forms include the range of plastic arts, from basket weaving, pottery,...
industry. One notable individual in this regard is the European American producer Richard Norman, who created a string of films starring black actors in the vein of Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
and the Lincoln Motion Picture Company. In contrast to the degrading parts offered in certain white films such as The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
, Norman and his contemporaries sought to create positive stories featuring African Americans in what he termed "splendidly assuming different roles".
Jacksonville's mostly conservative residents, however, objected to the hallmarks of the early movie industry, such as car chases in the streets, simulated bank robberies and fire alarms in public places, and even the occasional riot. In 1917, conservative Democrat John W. Martin
John W. Martin
John Wellborn Martin was an American politician. He was the 24th Governor of Florida, serving from 1925 to 1929. He also served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1917 to 1923.-Life:...
was elected mayor on the platform of taming the city's movie industry. By that time, southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
was emerging as the major movie production center, thanks in large part to the move of film pioneers like William Selig
William Selig
William Nicholas Selig was a pioneer of the American motion picture industry.-Biography:Selig was raised in Chicago. He worked as a vaudeville performer and produced a traveling minstrel show in San Francisco while still in his late teens. One of the actors was Bert Williams, who went on to become...
and D.W. Griffith to the area. These factors quickly sealed the demise of Jacksonville as a major film destination.
"Gateway to Florida"
The 1920s brought significant real estate development and speculation to the city during the great Florida land boom (and bust). Hordes of train passengers passed through Jacksonville on their way south to the new tourist destinations of South Florida, as most of the passenger trains arriving from the population centers of the North were routed through Jacksonville.The Riverside Theater
Riverside Theater (Jacksonville)
5 Points Theatre, formerly known as Riverside Theater, is a movie theater located in the Five Points area of Jacksonville, Florida. The theatre first opened in March 1927 at the height of development of Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood...
, which opened in 1927,
was the first theater in Florida to show talking pictures
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
.
Completion of the Dixie Highway
Dixie Highway
The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a small network of...
(portions of which became U.S. 1
U.S. Route 1 in Florida
U.S. Route 1 in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River into Georgia north of Boulogne, and south of Folkston. US 1 was designated through Florida when the U.S. Highway System was established in 1926.US 1 runs in the state of Florida, and...
) in the 1920s began to draw significant automobile traffic as well. An important entry point to the state since the 1870s, Jacksonville now justifiably billed itself as the "Gateway to Florida."
US Navy
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Naval Air Station Jacksonville or NAS Jacksonville is a military airport located four miles south of the central business district of Jacksonville...
("NAS Jax") on the westside became the first navy installation in the city. This base was a major training center during World War II, with over 20,000 pilots and aircrewmen being trained there. After the war, the Navy's elite Blue Angels
Blue Angels
The United States Navy's Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as the Blue Angels, was formed in 1946 and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team...
were established at NAS Jax. Today NAS Jax is the third largest navy installation in the country and employs over 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel.
In June 1941, land in the westernmost side of Duval County was earmarked for a second naval air facility. This became NAS Cecil Field, which during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
was designated a Master Jet Base, the only one in the South. RF-8 Crusaders out of Cecil Field detected missiles in Cuba, precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. In 1993, the Navy decided to close NAS Cecil Field, and this was completed in 1999. The land once occupied by this installation is now known as the "Cecil Commerce Center" and contains one of the campuses of Florida Community College
Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Florida State College at Jacksonville is a state college in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., and part of the Florida College System. It is one of several institutions in the Florida College System designated a "state college", as it offers a greater number of four-year bachelor's degrees than...
which now offers civil aeronautics classes.
December 1942 saw the addition of a third naval installation to Jacksonville: Naval Station Mayport
Naval Station Mayport
Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a military airfield with one asphalt paved runway measuring 8,001 x 200 ft. ....
at the mouth of the St. Johns River. This port developed through World War II and today is the home port for many types of navy ships, most notably the aircraft carrier from 1995 to 26 July 2007, when Big John was towed away, eventually to be mothballed in Philadelphia (see more at http://www.jacksonville.com/usskennedy). NS Mayport current employs about 14,000 personnel.
Jacksonville is also not far from Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the town of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, in southeastern Georgia, and not far from Jacksonville, Florida. The Submarine Base is the U.S. Atlantic Fleet's home port for U.S. Navy Fleet ballistic missile...
in St. Marys, Georgia
St. Marys, Georgia
-See also:*Cumberland Island*St. Marys Historic District*St. Marys Railroad-External links:***...
, which is home to part of the US Navy's nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet.
The naval base became a key training ground in the 1950s and 1960s and as such, the population of the city rose dramatically. More than half of the residents in Jacksonville had some tie to the naval base, whether it be a relative stationed there, or due to employment opportunities, by 1970, necessitating the opening of an international airport
Jacksonville International Airport
Jacksonville International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located 13 miles north of downtown Jacksonville, a city in Duval County, Florida...
in the area.
Hotel Roosevelt fire
On December 29, 1963, a fire gutted the first couple of stories of the Hotel Roosevelt on Adams Street, killing 22 people, setting a record for the highest one-day death toll in Jacksonville history. The hotel was later abandoned, with most businesses inside moving to the nearby Hotel George WashingtonHotel George Washington (Jacksonville, Florida)
The Hotel George Washington, on the corner of Adams and Julia Streets in Jacksonville, Florida, was a 15-story luxury hotel that was in operation from 1926 to 1971. The local firm of Marsh and Saxelbye served as architects. In its later years, it was one of only two luxury hotels in the downtown area...
.
Floating nuclear power plants
Offshore Power Systems (OPS) was a 1970 joint venture between Westinghouse Electric CompanyWestinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
, who constructed nuclear generating plants, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock, who had recently merged with Tenneco
Tenneco
Tenneco is a $6.2 billion Fortune 500 company that has been publicly traded on the NYSE since November 5, 1999 under the symbol TEN...
, to create floating nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s at the Port of Jacksonville
Port of Jacksonville
The Port of Jacksonville is an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The newest port in the United States, it carries over 21 million tons of cargo each year and has an annual impact of over $19 billion, including 65,000 jobs...
.
Construction of the new facility was projected to cost $200 million and create 10,000 new jobs when completed in 1976.
Contracts were signed by Public Service Electric and Gas Company
Public Service Electric and Gas Company
Public Service Enterprise Group , commonly known as PSEG, and originally known as the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey and then as the Public Service Electric and Gas Company, is a regulated, publicly owned gas and electric utility company in the state of New Jersey, United States. It is...
with PSE&G paying for the startup costs for the manufacturing facility.
Westinghouse named Zeke Zechella
Zeke Zechella
Alexander Philip "Zeke" Zechella was a United States Navy veteran and pioneer in the usage of nuclear energy who headed several major companies before retiring in Jacksonville, Florida and assisting local non-profit agencies....
to be president of OPS in 1972.
OPS obtained 850+ acres (3.4 km2) on Blount Island
Blount Island
Blount Island is an island of approximately on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, nine nautical miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. One of three public cargo facilities at the Port of Jacksonville is located there, and it is also the site of the United States Marine Corps Blount Island...
from the Jacksonville Port Authority
Jacksonville Port Authority
The Jacksonville Port Authority also known by its brand name, JAXPORT, is the independent government agency in Jacksonville, Florida that owns and operates much of the seaport system at the Port of Jacksonville.-History:...
(JPA) for $2,000/acre, then installed infrastructure using over 1,000 workers. A total of $125 million was invested in the property and facility, however; no plants were ever built.
Ax Handle Saturday
Because of its high visibility and patronage, the Hemming ParkHemming Plaza
Hemming Plaza is a public park, located in the heart of the government center in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It originally served as a village green, was the first and is the oldest park in the city.-Beginnings:...
and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
demonstrations in the 1960s. Black Sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s began on August 13, 1960 when students asked to be served at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworths
F. W. Woolworth Company
The F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first successful Woolworth store was opened on July 18, 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as "Woolworth's Great Five Cent Store"...
, Morrison's Cafeteria
Morrison's Cafeteria
Morrison's Cafeterias was a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants, located in the Southeastern United States with a concentration of locations in Georgia and Florida. Generally found in shopping malls, Morrison's primary competition was Piccadilly Cafeterias. It was particularly popular in Florida,...
and other eateries. They were denied service and kicked, spit at and addressed with racial slurs. This came to a head on "Ax Handle Saturday", August 27, 1960. A group of 200 middle aged and older white men (allegedly some were also members of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
) gathered in Hemming Park armed with baseball bats and ax handles. They attacked the protesters conducting sit-ins. The violence spread, and the white mob started attacking all African-Americans in sight. Rumors were rampant on both sides that the unrest was spreading around the county (in reality, the violence stayed in relatively the same location, and did not spill over into the mostly-white, upper-class Cedar Hills neighborhood, for example). A black street gang called the "Boomerangs" attempted to protect the demonstrators. Police, who had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, now became involved, arresting members of the Boomerangs and other black residents who attempted to stop the beatings.
Nat Glover, who worked in Jacksonville law enforcement for 37 years, including eight years as Sheriff of Jacksonville, recalled stumbling into the riot. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.
Several whites had joined the black protesters on that day. Richard Charles Parker, a 25-year old student attending Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
was among them. White protesters were the object of particular dislike by racists, so when the fracas began, Parker was hustled out of the area for his own protection. The police had been watching him and arrested him as an instigator, charging him with vagrancy, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. After Parker stated that he was proud to be a member of the NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, Judge John Santora sentenced him to 90 days in jail.
Hurricanes
Jacksonville is one of the few cities on the Eastern coast that have been largely spared from the wrath of hurricanes. Despite the damage and destruction that Hurricane DoraHurricane Dora
Hurricane Dora was the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall over the extreme northeast coast of Florida. Dora was also the first storm to produce hurricane force winds to Jacksonville, Florida in the almost 80 years of record keeping. Dora killed five people and left over...
caused in Jacksonville, the very next day, September 11, 1964, over 20,000 fans attended a live concert at the Gator Bowl Stadium
Gator Bowl Stadium
Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, it was radically reconstructed in 1994 in preparation for the Jacksonville Jaguars inaugural season and became Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now EverBank Field. It is most notable for hosting the Gator...
by the British rock-and-roll band, "The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
." The winds were blowing so hard that Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
's drumset had to be nailed down to the stage.
Dora was the only storm in recorded history to affect Jacksonville with hurricane force winds, though the city has been affected by weaker storms as well as hurricanes that lost intensity before reaching the area. In September 1999, after Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the third largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached...
struck the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, over one million Floridians were evacuated from coastal areas, many of them from Jacksonville. Mayor John Delaney
John Delaney
John Adrian Delaney is an American lawyer, politician and university administrator. He currently serves as the president of the University of North Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1995 to 2003...
announced the mandatory evacuation of the Jacksonville Beaches
Jacksonville Beaches
The Jacksonville Beaches, known locally as the "Beaches" or simply the "Beach", is the collective name for the towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on Florida's First Coast, all of which are suburbs or parts of the city of Jacksonville. These communities are...
and other low lying neighborhoods early on September 14; in total, nearly 80,000 Jacksonville residents left their homes. Ultimately the storm turned northward 125 miles off the coast, causing only minor damage in Jacksonville and the southeastern US before making ground in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Consolidation
Through the 1960s Jacksonville, like most other large cities in the US, suffered from the effects of urban sprawlUrban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. To compensate for the loss of population and tax revenue and end waste and corruption, voters elected to consolidate
Consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...
the government of Jacksonville with the government of Duval County
Duval County, Florida
Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...
. The move was carried out on October 1, 1968, and Hans Tanzler
Hans Tanzler
Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. is a former American politician and judge. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1967 to 1979. During his administration, the City of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County, making him the last mayor of the old city government and the first mayor of a...
, elected mayor of Jacksonville the year before, became the first mayor of the consolidated government. Jacksonville became the largest city in Florida and the 13th largest in the United States, and has a greater land area than any other American city outside Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. All areas of Duval County are considered part of Jacksonville besides the four independent municipalities of Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Jacksonville Beach is a city on the Atlantic coast of Duval County, Florida, east of Jacksonville. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches community, together with Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Ponte Vedra Beach...
, Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach, Florida
Atlantic Beach, a city in Duval County, Florida, is the northernmost of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville, Florida in 1968, Atlantic Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin, Florida,...
, Neptune Beach
Neptune Beach, Florida
Neptune Beach is a beachfront city in Duval County, Florida, United States, located to the east of Jacksonville. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with the city of Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Baldwin, remained...
, and Baldwin
Baldwin, Florida
Baldwin is a town in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville, Florida in 1968, Baldwin, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach, Florida, remained quasi-independent...
, although residents of these towns vote in city elections and are eligible for services provided by Jacksonville.
Claude Yates
Claude Yates
Claude J. Yates , was a Jacksonville business executive in the 1960s who is known as the Father of Jacksonville’s consolidation.-Prelude to Consolidation:...
began the "quiet revolution" with the Yates Manifesto and J. J. Daniel was chairman of the Local Government Study Commission. Lex Hester
Lex Hester
Lewis Alexander Hester, III was a public administrator in Jacksonville, Florida. He "was the consummate no-nonsense administrator, the very best in his field,” according to M. C...
was Executive Director of the commission and the key architect of Jacksonville's consolidated government, transition coordinator and chief administrative officer following consolidation.