Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, the most populous
city proper
A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as "the si ...
in the state and is the
largest city by area in the
contiguous United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
as of 2020.
It is the
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair (furniture), ...
of
Duval County,
with which the city government
consolidated in 1968. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits. As of
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, Jacksonville's population is 949,611,
making it the
12th most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in the
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, and the most populous city in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
outside of the state of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
With a population of 1,733,937, the
Jacksonville metropolitan area
The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. According ...
ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region.
Jacksonville straddles the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
in the
First Coast
Florida's First Coast, or simply the First Coast, is a region of the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida. The First Coast refers to the same general area as the directional region of Northeast Florida. It roughly ...
region of northeastern Florida, about south of the
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
state line ( to the urban core/downtown) and north of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. The
Jacksonville Beaches
The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of ...
communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast. The area was originally inhabited by the
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 var ...
people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on 22 June, 1564, followin ...
, one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. Under
British rule
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, a settlement grew at the narrow point in the river where cattle crossed, known as ''Wacca Pilatka'' to the
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
and the Cow Ford to the British. A
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
ted town was established there in 1822, a year after the United States gained
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
from Spain; it was named after
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, the first
military governor
A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
of the
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. Originally the major portion of the Spanish te ...
and seventh President of the United States.
Harbor improvements since the late 19th century have made Jacksonville a major military and civilian
deep-water port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. Its riverine location facilitates
Naval Station Mayport
Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...
,
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25
Location
NAS Jack ...
, the U.S. Marine Corps
Blount Island Command
Blount Island Command (BICmd) is responsible for the United States Marine Corps' Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS) Maintenance Cycle operations and oversight of the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway (MCPP-N). It is located on the ea ...
, and the
Port of Jacksonville
The Port of Jacksonville (Jaxport) is an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The 14th largest container port in the United States, it carries about 18 million short tons of cargo each year and has an annu ...
, Florida's third largest seaport.
["US Port Ranking by Cargo Volume 2008"]
American Association of Port Authorities Jacksonville's military bases and the nearby
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the city of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, on the North River in southeastern Georgia, and 38 miles (61 km) from Jacksonville, Florida. The Submari ...
form the third largest military presence in the United States.
["Port of Jacksonville"](_blank)
World Port Source, Port Detail Significant factors in the local economy include services such as banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. As with much of Florida, tourism is important to the Jacksonville area, particularly tourism related to
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
.
People from Jacksonville are sometimes called "Jacksonvillians" or "Jaxsons" (also spelled "Jaxons").
History
Early history
![Jacksonville FL Fort Caroline Natl Mem Ribault mnmt detail01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Jacksonville_FL_Fort_Caroline_Natl_Mem_Ribault_mnmt_detail01.jpg)
The area of the modern city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. On
Black Hammock Island
Black Hammock Island is an island located in the Northside area of Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States. The island is surrounded by marsh, and is almost directly adjacent to the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
The Timucuan Ecol ...
in the national
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is a U.S. National Preserve in Jacksonville, Florida. It comprises of wetlands, waterways, and other habitats in northeastern Duval County. Managed by the National Park Service in cooperation with th ...
, a
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
team discovered some of the oldest remnants of
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE.
In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical era, the region was inhabited by the
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 t ...
, a coastal subgroup of the
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 var ...
people. At the time of contact with Europeans, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful
chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
known as the
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered on 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 ...
, centered around the mouth of the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
. One early French map shows a village called ''Ossachite'' at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for that area.
In 1562, French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
explorer
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault (also spelled ''Ribaut'') (1520 – October 12, 1565) 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. A H ...
charted the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
, calling it the River of May because that was the month of his discovery. Ribault erected a stone column at his landing site near the river's mouth, claiming the newly discovered land for France.
In 1564,
René Goulaine de Laudonnière
Rene Goulaine de Laudonnière (c. 1529–1574) was a French Huguenot explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, a Huguenot, sent Jean Ribault and Laudonnière ...
established the first European settlement on the St. Johns River, Fort Caroline, near the main village of the Saturiwa.
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
ordered
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (; ast, Pedro (Menéndez) d'Avilés; 15 February 1519 – 17 September 1574) was a Spanish admiral, explorer and conquistador from Avilés, in Asturias, Spain. He is notable for planning the first regular trans-oceani ...
to protect the interests of Spain by attacking the French at Fort Caroline. On September 20, 1565, a Spanish force from the nearby Spanish settlement of
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
attacked
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on 22 June, 1564, followin ...
, and killed nearly all the French soldiers defending it. The Spanish renamed the fort as ''San Mateo'' and, following the expulsion of the French, St. Augustine became the most important European settlement in Florida. The location of Fort Caroline is subject to debate, but a reconstruction of the fort was established in 1964 along the St. Johns River.
![NortheastFLRomans](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/NortheastFLRomans.png)
Spain ceded Florida to the British in 1763 as part of the
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
in the aftermath of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
(known as the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
on the North American front). The British soon constructed the
King's Road
King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
connecting St. Augustine to
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. The road crossed the St. Johns River at a narrow point, which the
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
called ''Wacca Pilatka'' and the British called the Cow Ford; these names reflected the use of the ford for moving cattle across the river there.
The British introduced the cultivation of
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
,
indigo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
, and fruits as
cash crop
A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...
s on
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, in addition to exporting lumber. A large number of British colonists who were "energetic and of good character" were given land grants in the region and emigrated to the region, becoming the first English-speaking population in Florida. These colonists came from England, Georgia, South Carolina and Bermuda. British judges introduced the system of
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
to Florida, resulting in the Floridian legal system utilizing concepts such as
trial-by-jury,
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
and county-based government.
After their defeat in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Britain returned control of the territory to Spain in 1783 via the
Peace of Paris. The settlement at the Cow Ford continued to grow.
Founding and 19th century
![JacksonvilleCivilWarLGHTBTTY](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/JacksonvilleCivilWarLGHTBTTY.jpg)
After Spain ceded the
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. Originally the major portion of the Spanish te ...
to the United States in 1821, American settlers on the north side of the Cow Ford decided to plan a town, laying out the streets and plats. They named the town Jacksonville, after celebrated war hero and first Territorial Governor (later U.S. president)
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
. Led by
Isaiah D. Hart
Isaiah David Hart (November 6, 1792 – September 4, 1861) was an American plantation owner, and the founder of Jacksonville, Florida. Originally from Georgia, Hart took up arms against Spain in the Patriot Rebellion of 1812. After moving to a loc ...
, residents wrote a charter for a town government, which the Florida Legislative Council approved on February 9, 1832.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Duval County produced several units that fought for the Confederacy. At least two were raised out of Jacksonville: the
Jacksonville Light Infantry
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, a militia unit formed in 1859, and the Duval County Cow Boys, mustered in during the summer of 1861. Both units fought as part of the
3rd Florida Infantry
The 3rd Florida Infantry Regiment was formed near Pensacola, Florida, in July, 1861. Its companies were recruited in the counties of St. Johns, Hernando, Jefferson, Duval, Wakulla, Madison, Columbia, and Suwannee. The unit served along the coast ...
. The St. John's Greys, the Milton Artillery, and Company H of
1st Florida Cavalry Regiment
The 1st Florida Cavalry Regiment was a Confederate army unit during the U.S. Civil War, originally organized in July 1861 at Tallahassee. Members of the regiment came primarily from Alachua, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Leon, Levy, Nassau and Su ...
were also all formed by men from Jacksonville.
Jacksonville was also a key supply point for hogs and cattle shipped from Florida to feed the
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
forces. The city was blockaded by
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
forces, who gained control of nearby
Fort Clinch
Fort Clinch is a 19th-century masonry Coastal defence and fortification, coastal fortification, built as part of the Seacoast Defense (US)#Third system, Third System of seacoast defense conceived by the United States. It is located on a peninsula n ...
. Though no battles were fought in Jacksonville proper, the city changed hands several times between Union and Confederate forces. In the
Skirmish of the Brick Church
The Skirmish of the Brick Church was the first land engagement in Northeast Florida between the Union Army and Confederate Army of the American Civil War. It was fought on March 24, 1862 and resulted in the first Confederate victory in Florid ...
in 1862, Confederates won their first victory in the state.
However, Union forces captured a Confederate position at the
Battle of St. Johns Bluff
The Battle of St. John's Bluff was fought from October 1–3, 1862, between Union and Confederate forces in Duval County, Florida, during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in a significant Union victory, helping secure their control o ...
, and occupied Jacksonville in 1862. Slaves escaped to freedom in Union lines. In February 1864 Union forces left Jacksonville and confronted a
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
at the
Battle of Olustee
The Battle of Olustee or Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
Union General Truman Seymour had landed troops a ...
, going down to defeat.
Union forces retreated to Jacksonville and held the city for the remainder of the war. In March 1864 a Confederate cavalry confronted a Union expedition in the
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. Du ...
. Warfare and the long occupation left the city disrupted after the war.
During
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
and the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...
, Jacksonville and nearby St. Augustine became popular winter
resorts
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort' ...
for the rich and famous. Visitors arrived by
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
and later by railroad. President
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
attended the Sub-Tropical Exposition in the city on February 22, 1888, during his trip to Florida. This highlighted the visibility of the state as a worthy place for tourism. The city's tourism, however, was dealt major blows in the late 19th century by
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
outbreaks. Extending the
Florida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a pr ...
further south drew visitors to other areas. From 1893 to 1938, Jacksonville was the site of the Florida Old Confederate
Soldiers and Sailors Home; it operated a nearby cemetery.
20th and 21st centuries
1900 to 1939
![Firejax1901](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Firejax1901.jpg)
On May 3, 1901, downtown Jacksonville was ravaged by a fire that started as a kitchen fire. Spanish moss at a nearby mattress factory was quickly engulfed in flames and enabled the fire to spread rapidly. In a mere eight hours, it swept through 146 city blocks, destroyed over 2,000 buildings, left about 10,000 homeless and killed seven residents. The Confederate Monument in
Hemming Park
James Weldon Johnson Park is a public park in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city.
History Beginnings
The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah H ...
was one of the few landmarks to survive the fire.
Governor William Sherman Jennings declared martial law and sent the state militia to maintain order; on May 17, municipal authority resumed. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
, and the smoke plumes seen in
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
. Known as the "
Great Fire of 1901
The Great Fire of 1901 was a conflagration that occurred in Jacksonville, Florida on May 3, 1901. It was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire, and the 1906 S ...
", it was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the southeastern United States. Architect
Henry John Klutho
Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in 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 ...
was a primary figure in the reconstruction of the city. The first multi-story structure built by Klutho was the
Dyal-Upchurch Building in 1902.
The
St. James Building, built on the previous site of the St. James Hotel that burned down, was built in 1912 as Klutho's crowning achievement.
In the 1910s, northern film studios headquartered in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago were attracted to Jacksonville's warm climate, exotic landscapes, excellent rail access, and cheap labor. More than 30
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
studios
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...
were established over the decade, earning Jacksonville the title of "Winter Film Capital of the World". However, the emergence of
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
as a major film production center ended the city's film industry. One movie studio site,
Norman Studios
Norman Studios, also known as Norman Film Manufacturing Company is a former American film studio in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded by Richard Edward Norman, the studio produced silent films featuring African-American casts from 1919 to 1928. The o ...
, remains in
Arlington; it has been converted to the Jacksonville Silent Film Museum at Norman Studios.
![JacksonvilleFL1914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/JacksonvilleFL1914.jpg)
During this time, Jacksonville also became a banking and insurance center, with companies such as
Barnett Bank
Barnett Bank was an American bank based in Florida. Founded in 1877, it eventually became the largest commercial bank in Florida with over 600 offices and $41.2 billion in deposits. Barnett was purchased by NationsBank in 1997.Ginzl, David: "The ...
,
Atlantic National Bank
The Atlantic National Bank was an American bank based in Jacksonville, Florida. It existed from 1903 until 1985, when it was acquired by First Union. Subsequently, First Union changed its name to Wachovia Corporation when it also acquired Wachov ...
,
Florida National Bank
Florida National Bank (FNB), founded in 1905, was the second largest commercial bank in Florida. Florida National Group was acquired in 1990 by First Union Corporation, which was renamed Wachovia in 2001; Wachovia was subsequently acquired by Well ...
,
Prudential, Gulf Life, Afro-American Insurance, Independent Life and American Heritage Life thriving in the business district. The
Walker Business College
Walker Business College, also known as Walker Business College for Colored, and Walker's Commercial and Vocational College, was a former business school and vocational school specifically for African Americans which was founded c. 1916 and closed ...
was opened c. 1916 in Jacksonville and advertised that it was the largest African American business school in the United States.
1940 to 1979
![Vice President Nixon delivering campaign speech in Hemming Park - Jacksonville, Florida](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Vice_President_Nixon_delivering_campaign_speech_in_Hemming_Park_-_Jacksonville%2C_Florida.jpg)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, The
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
became a major employer and economic force, constructing three Navy bases in the city, while the
U.S. Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
established Blount Island Command.
Jacksonville, like most large cities in the United States, suffered from many negative effects of rapid
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The construction of federal highways essentially subsidized development of suburban housing, and wealthier, better established residents moved to newer housing in the suburbs. After World War II, the government of the city of Jacksonville began to increase spending to fund new public building projects in the postwar economic boom. Mayor
W. Haydon Burns
William Haydon Burns (March 17, 1912 – November 22, 1987) was an American politician. He was Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965, and served as the 35th Governor of Florida from 1965 to 1967.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois ...
' ''Jacksonville Story'' resulted in the construction of a new city hall, civic auditorium, public library and other projects that created a dynamic sense of civic pride. Development of suburbs led to a growing middle class who lived outside the urban core. An increasing proportion of residents in Jacksonville's urban core had a higher than average rate of poverty, especially as businesses and jobs also migrated to the suburbs.
Given the postwar migration of residents, businesses, and jobs, the city's tax base declined. It had difficulty funding education, sanitation, and traffic control within the city limits. In addition, residents in unincorporated suburbs had difficulty obtaining municipal services, such as sewage and building code enforcement. In 1958, a study recommended the city of Jacksonville begin annexing outlying communities to create the needed larger geographic tax base to improve services throughout the county. Voters outside the city limits rejected annexation plans in six referendums between 1960 and 1965.
On
August 27, 1960, a white mob attacked civil rights demonstrators in
Hemming Park
James Weldon Johnson Park is a public park in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city.
History Beginnings
The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah H ...
with clubs. The police largely stood by.
In 1962, a federal court ordered the city to prepare a plan for integration of public schools, in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court in ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...
'' (1954). A study found schools were in poor condition and poorly equipped.
On December 29, 1963, the
Hotel Roosevelt fire
The Hotel Roosevelt fire, on December 29, 1963, was the worst fire that Jacksonville, Florida, had seen since the Great Fire of 1901, and it contributed to the worst one-day death toll in the city's history: 22 people died, mostly from carbon mon ...
killed 22 people, the highest one-day death toll in Jacksonville. On September 10, 1964,
Hurricane Dora
Hurricane Dora was the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall over the Atlantic coast of North Florida at hurricane intensity. The sixth tropical storm and second hurricane of the 1964 season, Dora developed from a tropical wave nea ...
made landfall near
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
, causing major damage to buildings in North Florida. Hurricane Dora was the first recorded hurricane to make a direct hit to North Florida.
In the mid-1960s, corruption scandals arose among city and some county officials, who were mainly part of a traditional white Democratic network that had dominated politics for the decades since the
disenfranchisement of most African Americans at the turn of the 20th century which effectively hollowed out the Republican Party. After a
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
was convened to investigate, 11 officials were indicted and more were forced to resign.
In 1963 the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
threatened to withdraw accreditation of area schools in a year because of "instructional deficiencies." But voters refused to approve new taxes to improve school conditions. In late 1963, Duval County was spending $299 per student compared to the state average spending of $372 per student. In 1964 all 15 of Duval County's public high schools lost their accreditation. This added momentum to proposals for government reform.
Jacksonville Consolidation
The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.
Background
In 1934, the Florida Constitution was amended to give the Fl ...
, led by
J. J. Daniel
Jaquelin James Daniel (September 22, 1916 – August 7, 1990) was an American lawyer, businessman, civic leader, and newspaper publisher. He was born and lived most of his life in Jacksonville, Florida, where he led the effort that resulted in the ...
and
Claude Yates
Claude J. Yates (December 26, 1899 - October 25, 1988), was a Jacksonville business executive in the 1960s who is known as the ''Father of Jacksonville's consolidation.''
Early years
Claude was born in Gibson County, Tennessee, the second of five ...
, began to win more support during this period, from both inner-city blacks, who wanted more involvement in government after passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
, that provided federal oversight and enforcement of their right to vote, and whites in the suburbs, who wanted more services and more control over the central city. Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of the community, better public spending, and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government.
When a
consolidation referendum was held in 1967, voters approved the plan with a 65 percent approval. On October 1, 1968, the city and county governments merged to create the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. Fire, police, health & welfare, recreation, public works, and housing & urban development were all combined under the new government. In honor of the occasion, then-Mayor
Hans Tanzler
Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. (March 11, 1927 – July 25, 2013) was an 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 Coun ...
posed with actress
Lee Meredith
Lee Meredith (born Judith Lee Sauls, October 22, 1947) is an American actress.
Biography
On October 22, 1947, Meredith was born Judith Lee Sauls in River Edge, New Jersey, and grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. When she was 15, she joined the Manh ...
behind a sign marking the new border of the "Bold New City of the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
" at Florida 13 and Julington Creek. The consolidation created a 900-square-mile entity.
1980 to present
Tommy Hazouri
Thomas Lester Hazouri Sr. (October 11, 1944 – September 11, 2021) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1974 to 1986, as Mayor of Jacksonville from 1987 to 1991, an ...
supported passage of environmental regulations and reduced pollution odor during his single term as mayor, which began in 1987.
Ed Austin
T. Edward "Ed" Austin Jr. (July 15, 1926 – April 23, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circ ...
was elected as mayor in 1991. His most lasting contribution is the
River City Renaissance River City Renaissance was a $235 million bond issue in 1993 by the city of Jacksonville, Florida which funded urban renewal in some of downtown's most rundown sections.
Plan
Ed Austin's most lasting contribution as Jacksonville mayor was his River ...
program, a $235 million bond issued in 1993 by the city of Jacksonville which funded
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
and revamped the city's historic downtown neighborhoods. Austin oversaw the city's purchase and refurbishing of the
St. James Building, which is now used as Jacksonville's
city hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
. He was mayor in 1993 when Jacksonville was awarded its
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
franchise, the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
.
[Patton, Charlie]
"Former Mayor Ed Austin remembered for 'uncanny moral compass'
Florida Times-Union, April 28, 2011
The
Better Jacksonville Plan
The Better Jacksonville Plan is a growth management plan implemented by the city of Jacksonville, Florida. It was the signature project of Mayor John Delaney. It was approved by Jacksonville voters on September 5, 2000. Lex Hester was a key advis ...
, promoted as a "blueprint for Jacksonville's future" and approved by Jacksonville voters in 2000, authorized a half-penny sales tax. This generated most of the revenue required for the $2.25 billion package of major projects, which have included road & infrastructure improvements, environmental preservation, targeted economic development, and new or improved public facilities.
In 2005, Jacksonville hosted
Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...
, which was seen by an estimated 86 million viewers.
The city has suffered damage in natural disasters. In October 2016,
Hurricane Matthew
Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane sinc ...
caused major flooding and damage to Jacksonville,
Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...
,
Atlantic Beach and
Neptune Beach
Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach ...
, the first such damage in the area since 2004. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma caused record-breaking floods in Jacksonville, with a severity not seen since 1846.
As has been typical of other metropolitan areas across the country, suburban growth has continued around Jacksonville, where large areas of land were available for development, drawing more residents, businesses and jobs from the city. This has resulted in further demographic changes. The city's largest ethnic group, non-Hispanic white,
declined from 75.8% of the population in 1970 to 55.1% by 2010.
Geography
Cityscape
Topography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , making Jacksonville the largest city in land area in the Continental United States, contiguous United States; of this, 86.66% () is land and 13.34% () is water. Jacksonville completely surrounds the town of Baldwin, Florida, Baldwin. Nassau County, Florida, Nassau County lies to the north, Baker County, Florida, Baker County lies to the west, and Clay County, Florida, Clay and St. Johns County, Florida, St. Johns counties lie to the south. Jacksonville has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean with the
Jacksonville Beaches
The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of ...
. The city developed along both sides of the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
. The Trout River (Florida), Trout River, a major tributary of the St. Johns River, is entirely within Jacksonville.
Just south of Jacksonville and north of Saint Augustine is the boundary of where the Floridian Peninsula ends and Continental North America begins; Jacksonville is north of that line. While still in the North American Coastal plain, the topography begins to take on slight Piedmont characteristics. Like the Central Florida ridge and the Piedmont, the area begins sloping several miles inland. On the west side of Jacksonville, a series of low ridges predominate. The high point of Jacksonville rises to 190 feet above sea level on Trail Ridge, along the boundary with Baker County. This high point was developed into a landfill and leveled in the 1990s. Prior to that the ridge reached over 200 feet. Strip mining in the west side of Jacksonville has leveled the area.
Soil composition is primarily sand and clay rather than limestone, so few sinkholes develop; however, deep, large diameter sinkholes do occur.
Architecture
The architecture of Jacksonville varies in style. Few structures in the city center predate the
Great Fire of 1901
The Great Fire of 1901 was a conflagration that occurred in Jacksonville, Florida on May 3, 1901. It was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire, and the 1906 S ...
.
The city is home to one of the largest collections of Prairie School style buildings outside the Midwest.
Following the Great Fire of 1901,
Henry John Klutho
Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in 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 ...
came to influence generations of local designers with his works by both the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago School, championed by Louis Sullivan, and the Prairie School of architecture, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. Jacksonville is also home to a notable collection of Mid-Century modern architecture.
Local architects Robert C. Broward, Taylor Hardwick, and William Morgan (architect), William Morgan adapted a range of design principles, including International style (architecture), International style, Brutalism, Futurism and Organicism, all applied with an American interpretation generally referred to today as Mid-century modern design.
The architecture firms of Reynolds, Smith & Hills (RS&H)
and KBJ Architects, Kemp, Bunch & Jackson (KBJ) have also contributed a number of important works to the city's modern architectural movement.
Jacksonville's early predominant position as a regional center of business left an indelible mark on the city's skyline. Many of the earliest skyscrapers in the state were constructed in Jacksonville, dating to 1902.
The city last held the state height record from 1974 to 1981.
The tallest building in Downtown Jacksonville's skyline is the Bank of America Tower (Jacksonville), Bank of America Tower, constructed in 1990 as the Barnett Center. It has a height of and includes 42 floors.
Other notable structures include the 37-story Wells Fargo Center (Jacksonville), Wells Fargo Center (with its distinctive flared base making it the defining building in the Jacksonville skyline), originally built in 1972–1974 by the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company, and the 28-floor Riverplace Tower. When this tower was completed in 1967, it was the tallest precast, Prestressed concrete, post-tensioned concrete structure in the world.
File:Jacksonville FL Marble Bank and Bisbee Bldg01.jpg, Laura Street Trio (1902-1912)
File:CarlingHotelJacksonville-2010-07-b.JPG, The Carling (1925)
File:11eforsyth.JPG, 11 East Forsyth (1926)
File:OnePrudentialPlazaJacksonville-2010-07a.JPG, Eight Forty One (1955)
File:Riverplace Tower, Jacksonville, FL, US.jpg, Riverplace Tower (1967)
File:WellsFargoJaxFL.JPG, Wells Fargo Center (Jacksonville), Wells Fargo Center (1974)
File:EverBank Center 2.JPG, TIAA Bank Center (1983)
File:Bofatower.jpg, Bank of America Tower (Jacksonville), Bank of America Tower (1990)
Neighborhoods
There are more than 500 neighborhoods within Jacksonville's vast area.
These include Downtown Jacksonville and its surrounding neighborhoods, including LaVilla, Brooklyn, Jacksonville, Brooklyn, Riverside and Avondale, Springfield, Jacksonville, Springfield, Eastside (Jacksonville), Eastside, Mandarin (Jacksonville), Mandarin, and San Marco (Jacksonville), San Marco. Additionally, greater Jacksonville is traditionally divided into several amorphous areas, comprising large parts of Duval County. These are Northside, Jacksonville, Northside, Westside, Jacksonville,, Westside, Southside, Jacksonville, Southside, and Arlington, Jacksonville, Arlington, as well as the
Jacksonville Beaches
The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of ...
.
[McEwen, John W. 2007. "The Vernacular Neighborhoods of Jacksonville, Florida: Can GIS Help Determine their Boundaries?" ''The Florida Geographer'', Vol. 38: 54–71.]
Four municipalities have retained their own governments since consolidation; these are Baldwin, Florida, Baldwin and the three Jacksonville Beaches towns of
Atlantic Beach,
Neptune Beach
Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach ...
, and
Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...
. Four of Jacksonville's neighborhoods, Avondale, Jacksonville, Florida, Avondale, Ortega, Jacksonville, Florida, Ortega, Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida, Springfield, and Riverside, Jacksonville, Florida, Riverside, have been identified as U.S. historic districts and are in the National Register of Historic Places.
File:Jax FL Terminal POC04.jpg, LaVilla
File:FidelityNational2Jacksonville-Jul2009.JPG, Brooklyn (Jacksonville), Brooklyn
File:Lauraforsyth.JPG, Northbank (Jacksonville), Northbank
File:JaxFLSouthbank2014.jpg, Southbank (Jacksonville), Southbank
File:Sphdqa.JPG, Springfield (Jacksonville), Springfield
File:Jacksonville San Marco Square.JPG, San Marco (Jacksonville), San Marco
File:StJohnsTCJax.jpg, Neighborhoods of Jacksonville#Southside, Southside
File:Public_School_No_13_-_3.jpg, Northside (Jacksonville), Northside
File:The Mathews Bridge1.jpg, Neighborhoods of Jacksonville#Eastside, Eastside and Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington
File:Jax FL Old Ortega HD01.jpg, Ortega (Jacksonville), Ortega
File:Jax FL Avondale HD01.jpg, Riverside and Avondale
File:Northshorehomejax.jpg, Tallulah-North Shore
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Jacksonville has a humid subtropical climate, with hot humid summers, and warm to mild and drier winters. Seasonal rainfall is concentrated in the warmest months from May through September, when brief but intense downpours with thunder and lightning are common, while the driest months are from November through April. Rainfall averages around a year.
Normal monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July; high temperatures average throughout the year.
[
The city of Jacksonville usually averages only about 10 to 15 nights at or below freezing. Such cold weather is usually short-lived. The coldest temperature recorded at Jacksonville International Airport was on January 1985 Arctic outbreak, January 21, 1985. Jacksonville has recorded three days with measurable snow since 1911, most recently a one-inch (2.5 cm) snowfall in December 1989 and flurries in December 2010.
Jacksonville has only received one direct hit from a hurricane since 1871. The rarity of direct strikes is attributed to chance.] However, the city has experienced hurricane or near-hurricane conditions more than a dozen times due to storms crossing the state from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, or passing to the north or south in the Atlantic and brushing past the area. The strongest effect on Jacksonville was from Hurricane Dora
Hurricane Dora was the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall over the Atlantic coast of North Florida at hurricane intensity. The sixth tropical storm and second hurricane of the 1964 season, Dora developed from a tropical wave nea ...
in 1964, the only recorded storm to hit the First Coast with sustained hurricane-force winds. The eye crossed St. Augustine with winds that had just barely diminished to , making it a strong Category 2 on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale, Saffir-Simpson Scale. In 1979, Hurricane David passed offshore by , bringing winds around .[ Hurricane Floyd in 1999 caused damage mainly to Jacksonville Beach; the Jacksonville Beach pier was severely damaged and later demolished.
In 2004, Jacksonville was inundated by Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne, which made landfall south of the area, and suffered minor damage from Tropical Storm Bonnie (2004), Tropical Storm Bonnie, which spawned a minor tornado. Jacksonville also suffered damage from 2008's Tropical Storm Fay (2008), Tropical Storm Fay, which crisscrossed the state, bringing parts of Jacksonville under darkness for four days. Fay damaged, but did not destroy, the Jacksonville Beach pier that was rebuilt after Floyd. On May 28, 2012, Jacksonville was hit by Tropical Storm Beryl (2012), Tropical Storm Beryl, packing winds up to , which made landfall near Jacksonville Beach. ]Hurricane Matthew
Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane sinc ...
passed to the east with winds of 110 miles per hour. It caused storm surge, extensive flooding of the Atlantic Ocean and St. Johns River, and wind damage; the storm knocked out power for 250,000 people.[ In 2017, Hurricane Irma passed to the west with winds.][ It caused severe storm surge and flooding, passing the flood record of Hurricane Dora in 1964.][
]
Parks
The City of Jacksonville has a unique park system, with various lands operated by the National Park Service, Florida State Parks and the City of Jacksonville Department of Parks and Recreation. Jacksonville operates the largest urban park system in the United States, providing facilities and services at more than 337 locations on more than throughout the city. A number of parks provide access for people to boat, swim, fish, sail, jetski, surf and waterski.
National parks
The Timucuan Preserve is a U.S. National Preserve comprising over of wetlands and waterways. It includes natural and historic areas such as the Fort Caroline National Memorial and the Kingsley Plantation, the oldest standing plantation in the state.
State parks
There are several state parks within the city limits of Jacksonville, these include Amelia Island State Park, Big Talbot Island State Park, Fort George Island Cultural State Park, George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park, Little Talbot Island State Park, Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park and Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park.
City parks
* Springfield Park (Jacksonville), Springfield Park is a public park on the southern bounds of the historic neighborhood of Springfield (Jacksonville), Springfield (for which it is named), and is part of a network of parks that parallel Hogans Creek. The park opened in 1907 as Dignan Park, named for a former chairman of the city's Board of Public Works. In 1914, the park hosted the annual reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, a gathering of former Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
soldiers. Five months after the reunion, the city renamed the park "Confederate Park". A Confederate monument was erected in 1915 honoring the Women of the Southland. On August 11, 2020, the Jacksonville City Council, city council voted to change the name of the park to "Springfield Park".
* Friendship Fountain is a large fountain in St. Johns River Park at the west end of Downtown Jacksonville's Jacksonville Riverwalk, Southbank Riverwalk. It opened in 1965 as the world's largest and tallest fountain, and has been one of Jacksonville's most recognizable and popular attractions. The fountain's three pumps could push of water per minute up to in height. Designed by Jacksonville architect Taylor Hardwick in 1963 and, in 2011 the city completed a $3.2 million renovation to the fountain and the surrounding park. It features a light show and music each evening.
* Hanna Park is a public beach and city park near Mayport in the Jacksonville Beaches
The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of ...
area. It consists of of mature coastal Hammock (ecology), hammock, and was known as Manhattan Beach (Florida), Manhattan Beach, Florida's first beach community for African Americans during the period of segregation in the United States. Hannah Park also has a campground with both RV and tent sites.
* Hemming Park
James Weldon Johnson Park is a public park in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city.
History Beginnings
The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah H ...
is a public park in the heart of the government center in downtown. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city. The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah Hart, founder of Jacksonville. The first Wednesday of every month, Hemming Park is converted into the centerpiece of Jacksonville's Downtown Art Walk. The third Thursday of every month Hemming Park hosts a night market called Jaxsons Night Market.
* Henry J. Klutho Park, Klutho Park is an public park, between downtownand the historic neighborhood of Springfield (Jacksonville), Springfield. It is part of a network of parks that parallel Hogans Creek, Klutho Park being the largest. Created between 1899 and 1901 on land donated by the Springfield Company. The park also housed the city's first zoo, opening at the park in 1914. The Hogans Creek Improvement Project of 1929–1930, designed by architect Henry J. Klutho, turned much of the park grounds into a Venetian-style promenade.
* Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail is a Rail Trail that extends northwest to Baldwin, Florida. It includes three separate paths; a multi-use asphalt trail for hiking, jogging, in-line skating or cycling; an off-road bike trail; and a horseback riding trail.
* Jessie Ball DuPont Park is a park, home to Treaty Oak (Jacksonville, Florida), Treaty Oak, a massive 250-year-old tree in the Southbank.
* Metropolitan Park is a waterfront park on the St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
, in the Sports Complex area of downtown. The multi-purpose facility contains an exhibition area, picnic and playground area, and a performance pavilion which has a capacity of 10,000 persons.
* Memorial Park (Jacksonville), Memorial Park is a public park, on the St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
in the historic neighborhoods Riverside, Jacksonville, Florida, Riverside. Completed in 1924, it is the third oldest park in the city. Built to honor of the 1,200 Floridians who died serving during World War I, the notable Olmsted Brothers were commissioned to design the park, along with local architect Roy A. Benjamin. Charles Adrian Pillars designed the bronze sculpture, 'Life', prominently showcased in the park.
* Riverside Park (Jacksonville), Riverside Park is an public park, in the historic neighborhood of Riverside, Jacksonville, Florida, Riverside. It is the second oldest park in the city.
* Jacksonville Riverwalk, Riverwalk along the St. Johns from Berkman Plaza to I-95 at the Fuller Warren Bridge while the Southbank Riverwalk stretches from the Radisson Hotel to Museum Circle. Adjacent to Museum Circle is St. Johns River Park, also known as Friendship Park. It is the location of Friendship Fountain, one of the most recognizable and popular attractions in Jacksonville. This landmark was built in 1965 and promoted as the "World's Tallest and Largest" fountain at the time.
* Veterans Memorial Wall is a tribute to local servicemen and women killed while serving in US armed forces. A ceremony is held each Memorial Day recognizing any service woman or man from Jacksonville who died in the previous year.
Other
* Evergreen Cemetery (Jacksonville, Florida), Evergreen Cemetery is a large historic cemetery added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 8, 2011.
* Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens broke ground on a new center in April 2007 and held their grand opening on November 15, 2008.
* Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
* Jacksonville National Cemetery
* Old City Cemetery (Jacksonville, Florida), Old City Cemetery
* Tree Hill Nature Center is a nature preserve and environmental education center five minutes from Downtown Jacksonville.
Demographics
Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, and the twelfth most populous city in the United States. , there were 821,784 people and 366,273 households in the city. Jacksonville has the country's tenth-largest Arab population, with a total population of 5,751 according to the 2000 United States Census. Jacksonville has Florida's largest Filipino American community, with 25,033 in the metropolitan area as of the 2010 Census. Much of Jacksonville's Filipino community served in or has ties to the United States Navy.
, those of Hispanic or Latino ancestry accounted for 7.7% of Jacksonville's population. Of these, 2.6% identified as Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican, 1.7% as Mexican people, Mexican, and 0.9% as Cuban people, Cuban.
, those of African ancestry accounted for 30.7% of Jacksonville's population, which includes African Americans. Out of the 30.7%, 1.8% identified as Sub-Saharan African, 1.4% as West Indian or Afro-Caribbean American (0.5% Haitian people, Haitian, 0.4% Jamaican people, Jamaican, 0.1% Afro-Caribbean, Other or Unspecified West Indian, 0.1% Bahamian people, Bahamian, 0.1% Barbadian people, Barbadian), and 0.6% as Black Hispanics.
, those of (non-Hispanic white) European ancestry accounted for 55.1% of Jacksonville's population. Of these, 10.4% identified as ethnic German people, German, 10.2% as Irish people, Irish, 8.8% as English people, English, 3.9% as Italian people, Italian, 2.2% as French people, French, 2.0% as Scottish people, Scottish, 2.0% as Scotch-Irish American, Scotch-Irish, 1.7% Polish people, Polish, 1.1% Dutch people, Dutch, 0.6% Russian people, Russian, 0.5% Norwegian people, Norwegian, 0.5% Swedish people, Swedish, 0.5% Welsh people, Welsh, and 0.5% as French Canadian people, French Canadian.[
, those of Asian ancestry accounted for 4.3% of Jacksonville's population. Out of the 4.3%, 1.8% were Filipino people, Filipino, 0.9% were Indian people, Indian, 0.6% Asian people, Other Asian, 0.5% Vietnamese people, Vietnamese, 0.3% Chinese people, Chinese, 0.2% Korean People, Korean, and 0.1% were Japanese people, Japanese.][
In 2010, 6.7% of the population identified as of American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity.)][ Some 0.9% were of Arab people, Arab ancestry, .][
, there were 366,273 households, out of which 11.8% were vacant. 23.9% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.21. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.]
In 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $48,829, and the median income for a family was $59,272. Males had a median income of $42,485 versus $34,209 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,227. About 10.5% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those aged 65 or over.
In 2010, 9.2% of the county's population was foreign born, with 49.6% being Naturalized citizen of the United States, naturalized American citizens. Of foreign born residents, 38.0% were born in Latin America, 35.7% born in Asia, 17.9% were born in Europe, 5.9% born in Africa, 1.9% in North America, and 0.5% were born in Oceania.[
, 87.1% of Jacksonville's population age five and over spoke only English at home while 5.8% of the population spoke Spanish at home. About 3.3% spoke other Indo-European languages at home. About 2.9% spoke Languages of Asia, Asian languages or Languages of Oceania, Pacific Islander languages/Oceanic languages at home. The remaining 0.9% of the population spoke Language, other languages at home. In total, 12.9% spoke another language other than English.][
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 90.60% of all residents, while those who spoke Spanish made up 4.13%, Tagalog language, Tagalog 1.00%, French 0.47%, Arabic 0.44%, German 0.43%, Vietnamese language, Vietnamese at 0.31%, Russian was 0.21% and Italian made up 0.17% of the population.
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Religion
Jacksonville has a diverse religious population. The largest religious group is Protestant. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), in 2010 the Jacksonville metropolitan area had an estimated 365,267 Evangelical Protestants, 76,100 Mainline Protestants, and 56,769 Black Protestants, though figures for the latter were incomplete. There were around 1200 Protestant congregations in various denominations. Notable Protestant churches include Bethel Baptist Institutional Church and First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, First Baptist Church, whose congregations separated after the Civil War and which are the city's oldest Baptist churches. Each has become very large. The Episcopal Diocese of Florida has its Episcopal see, see at St. John's Cathedral (Jacksonville), St. John's Cathedral; the current building was completed in 1906.
Jacksonville is part of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, which covers seventeen counties in North Florida. ARDA estimated 133,155 Catholics attending 25 parishes in the Jacksonville metropolitan area in 2010.[ The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Jacksonville), Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Jacksonville, defined as a minor basilica in 2013, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
There are also two Eastern Catholic parishes, one of the Syriac Catholic Church and one of the Maronite Church. In 2010 there were 2520 Eastern Orthodox Christians, representing four churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion, as well as congregations of Syriac Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Coptic Orthodox Christians.][
ARDA estimated 14,886 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and 511 Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalists in 2010.][ There were an estimated 8,581 Muslims attending seven mosques, the largest being the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida.][ The Jewish community, which numbered 6,028 in 2010,][ is largely centered in the neighborhood of Mandarin (Jacksonville), Mandarin. There are five Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox, two Reform Judaism, Reform, two Conservative Judaism, Conservative, and one Reconstructionist Judaism, Reconstructionist synagogues. The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute teaches courses for the community.][
ARDA also estimated 4,595 Hinduism, Hindus, 3,530 Buddhism, Buddhists and 650 Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼís in the Jacksonville area in 2010.][
]
Economy
Jacksonville's location on the St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
and the Atlantic Ocean proved instrumental to the growth of the city and its industry. Jacksonville has a sizable deepwater port, which helps make it a leading port in the U.S. for automobile imports, as well as the leading transportation and Distribution (business), distribution hub in the state. The strength of the city's economy lies in its broad diversification. While the area once had many thriving dairies, such as Gustafson's Farm and Skinner Dairy, this aspect of the economy has declined over time. The area's economy is balanced among Distribution (business), distribution, financial services, biomedical technology, consumer goods, information services, manufacturing, insurance, and other industries.
Jacksonville is home to the headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies: CSX Corporation, Fidelity National Financial, Fidelity National Information Services and Southeastern Grocers. Interline Brands is based in Jacksonville and is owned by The Home Depot. Other notable companies based in Jacksonville or with a large presence include Florida Blue, Swisher International Group, BOA Merrill Lynch, Fanatics (sports retailer), Fanatics, Crowley Maritime, Web.com, Firehouse Subs and Deutsche Bank. Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25
Location
NAS Jack ...
, SW of downtown, employs more than 25,000 people.
In 2008, Jacksonville had 2.8 million visitors who stayed overnight, spending nearly $1 billion. A study by Research Data Services of Tampa quantified the importance of tourism. The total economic impact was $1.6 billion and supported nearly 43,000 jobs, 10% of the local workforce.
Banking and financial services
Jacksonville has long had a regional legacy in banking and finance. Locally headquartered Atlantic National Bank
The Atlantic National Bank was an American bank based in Jacksonville, Florida. It existed from 1903 until 1985, when it was acquired by First Union. Subsequently, First Union changed its name to Wachovia Corporation when it also acquired Wachov ...
, Florida National Bank
Florida National Bank (FNB), founded in 1905, was the second largest commercial bank in Florida. Florida National Group was acquired in 1990 by First Union Corporation, which was renamed Wachovia in 2001; Wachovia was subsequently acquired by Well ...
and Barnett Bank
Barnett Bank was an American bank based in Florida. Founded in 1877, it eventually became the largest commercial bank in Florida with over 600 offices and $41.2 billion in deposits. Barnett was purchased by NationsBank in 1997.Ginzl, David: "The ...
dominated the industry in Florida from the turn of the 20th century through the 1980s, before all being acquired in a national wave of mergers and acquisitions throughout the entire financial sector. Acquired by NationsBank in 1997, Barnett Bank was the last of these banks to succumb to acquisition, and at the time was the largest banking merger in U.S. history. The city still holds distinction nationally and internationally, boasting two Fortune 500 financial services companies, Fidelity National Financial and FIS (company), FIS, FIS being well recognized as a global leader in financial technology. Headquartered on the banks of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, EverBank holds the title of largest bank in the state by deposits. The city is home to other notable financial services institutions including Ameris Bancorp, Atlantic Coast Financial, Black Knight Financial Services, MedMal Direct Insurance Company, US Assure, Jax Federal Credit Union, and VyStar Credit Union. The city is also home to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Jacksonville Branch, Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Jacksonville's financial sector has benefited from a rapidly changing business culture, as have other Sunbelt cities such as Atlanta, Tampa, and Charlotte. In a concept known as nearshoring, financial institutions are shifting operations away from high-cost addresses such as Wall Street, and have shifted some trading functions to Jacksonville. With relatively low-cost real estate, easy access by planes to New York City, high quality of life, and 19,000 financial sector employees, Jacksonville has become an option for relocating staff.
Deutsche Bank's growth in the city is an example of such change. Jacksonville is the site of Deutsche Bank's second largest US operation; only New York City is larger. They also are an example of a business that has moved operations to the suburbs. Other institutions with a notable presence in Jacksonville include Macquarie Group, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Citizens Property Insurance, Fidelity Investments, Ally Financial and Aetna.
Logistics
Jacksonville is a rail, air, and highway focal point and a busy port of entry, with Jacksonville International Airport, ship repair shipyard, yards and extensive freight-handling facilities. Lumber, phosphate, paper, cigars and Pulp (paper), wood pulp are the principal exports; automobiles and coffee are among imports. The city's manufacturing base provides 4.5% of local jobs, versus 8.5% nationally.
According to ''Forbes'' magazine in 2007, Jacksonville ranked third among the top ten U.S. cities as destinations for jobs. Jacksonville was ranked as the tenth-fastest growing city in the U.S.
To emphasize the city's transportation business and capabilities, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce filed ''Jacksonville America's Logistics Center'' as a trademark on November 9, 2007. It was formally registered on August 4, 2009. Cornerstone began promoting the city as "Jacksonville: America's Logistics Center" in 2009. Signs were added to the existing city limit markers on Interstate 95.
The Port of Jacksonville
The Port of Jacksonville (Jaxport) is an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The 14th largest container port in the United States, it carries about 18 million short tons of cargo each year and has an annu ...
, a seaport on the St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
, is a large component of the local economy. Approximately 50,000 jobs in Northeast Florida are related to port activity and the port has an economic impact of $2.7 billion in Northeast Florida: The three maritime shippers who ship to Puerto Rico are all headquartered in Jacksonville: TOTE Maritime, Crowley Maritime, and Trailer Bridge.
Cecil Commerce Center is on the site of the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field, which closed in 1999 following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision. Covering a total area of , it was the largest military base in the Jacksonville area. The parcel contains more than 3% of the total land area in Duval County (). The industrial and commercial-zoned center offers mid to large-size parcels for development; it has excellent transportation and utility infrastructure, including the third-longest runway in Florida.
Media and technology
''The Florida Times-Union'' is the major daily newspaper in Jacksonville and the First Coast. Jacksonville.com is its official website. The ''Financial News & Daily Record'' is a daily paper focused on the business and legal communities. Weekly papers include the ''Jacksonville Business Journal'', an American City Business Journals publication focused on business news, ''Folio Weekly'', the city's chief alternative weekly, and ''The Florida Star'' and the ''Jacksonville Free Press'', two weeklies catering to African Americans. ''Jax4Kids'', a monthly newspaper, caters to parents. ''EU Jacksonville'' is a monthly entertainment magazine. ''The Coastal'' is a local online magazine that also publishes a quarterly paper edition.
Jacksonville is the 47th-largest local television market in the United States. Despite its large population, Jacksonville has always been a medium-sized market because the surrounding suburbs and rural areas are not much larger than the city. It is served by television stations affiliated with major American networks including WTLV 12 (NBC) and its sister station WJXX 25 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), WJAX-TV 47 (CBS) and WFOX-TV 30 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox; with MyNetworkTV/MeTV on DT2), which operates WJAX-TV under a Local marketing agreement, joint sales and shared services agreement, WJCT (TV), WJCT 7 (PBS), and WCWJ 17 (The CW, CW). WJXT 4, WCWJ's sister station, is a former longtime CBS affiliate that turned independent in 2002.
Jacksonville is the 46th-largest local radio market in the U.S., and is dominated by the same two large ownership groups that dominate the radio industry across it: Cox Communications, Cox Radio and iHeartMedia. The dominant AM radio station in terms of ratings is WOKV (AM), WOKV 690AM, which is also the flagship station for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In May 2013, WOKV began simulcasting on 104.5 FM as WOKV FM. There are two Radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcasting a primarily contemporary hits format; WAPE-FM, WAPE 95.1 has dominated this niche for over 20 years, and more recently has been challenged by WKSL 97.9 FM (KISS FM). WJBT 93.3 (The Beat) is a hip hop music, hip hop/rhythm and blues, R&B station, 96.9 The Eagle WJGL operates a Classic Hits format while its HD subchannel WJGL-HD2 operates an Urban CHR format under the moniker Power 106.1, WWJK, WWJK 107.3 is a Mainstream Rock station under the moniker "107.3 Planet Radio. WEZI (FM), WEZI 102.9 is an adult contemporary station branded as "Easy 102.9" along with WEJZ, 96.1 WEJZ branded as "96.1 WEJZ" WXXJ (FM), WXXJ X106.5 is an alternative station, WQIK 99.1 is a country music, country station as well as WGNE-FM 99.9, and WJCT-FM, WJCT 89.9 is the local National Public Radio affiliate. WJKV 90.9 FM is an Educational Media Foundation K-LOVE outlet. The NPR and PRX radio show ''State of the Re:Union'', hosted by performance poet and playwright Al Letson, is headquartered and produced in Jacksonville.
Military and defense
Jacksonville is home to three US naval facilities. Together with the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the city of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, on the North River in southeastern Georgia, and 38 miles (61 km) from Jacksonville, Florida. The Submari ...
, Jacksonville is the third-largest naval complex in the country. Only Norfolk, Virginia and San Diego, California are bigger. The United States military is the largest employer in Jacksonville and its total economic impact is approximately $6.1 billion annually. Several veterans' service organizations are also headquartered in Jacksonville, including Wounded Warrior Project.
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25
Location
NAS Jack ...
is a military airport south of the central business district. Approximately 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel are employed on the base. There are 35 operational units/squadrons assigned there. Support facilities include an airfield for pilot training, and a maintenance depot capable of tasks ranging from changing a tire to intricate micro-electronics, or total engine disassembly. Also on-site is a Naval Hospital, a Fleet Industrial Supply Center, a Navy Family Service Center, and recreational facilities.
Naval Station Mayport
Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...
is a Navy Ship Base that is the third-largest fleet concentration area in the U.S. Mayport has a busy harbor capable of accommodating 34 ships, and an runway capable of handling any aircraft used by the Department of Defense. Until 2007, it was home to the aircraft carrier , which locals called "Big John". In January 2009, the Navy committed to stationing a nuclear-powered carrier at Mayport when the official ''Record of Decision'' was signed. The port will require approximately $500 million in facility enhancements to support the larger vessel, which took several years to complete. The carrier was projected to arrive in 2019; however, an amphibious group was sent before the carrier.
Blount Island Command
Blount Island Command (BICmd) is responsible for the United States Marine Corps' Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS) Maintenance Cycle operations and oversight of the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway (MCPP-N). It is located on the ea ...
is a Marine Corps Logistics Base whose mission is to support the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF). This provides for rapid deployment of personnel to link up with pre-positioned equipment and supplies embarked aboard forward-deployed Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS).
, a Nuclear propulsion, nuclear-powered , is a U.S. Navy ship named for the city. The ship's nickname is ''The Bold One'' and Pearl Harbor is her home port.
The 125th Fighter Wing, Florida Air National Guard is based at Jacksonville International Airport.
Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville is on the St. Johns River next to Naval Station Mayport. Sector Jacksonville controls operations from Kings Bay, Georgia, south to Cape Canaveral, Florida, Cape Canaveral. CGC ''Kingfisher'', CGC ''Maria Bray'', and CGC ''Hammer'' are stationed at the Sector. Station Mayport is co-located with Sector Jacksonville and includes response boats, and motor lifeboats.
Culture
Leisure and entertainment
Throughout the year, many annual events of various types are held in Jacksonville. In sports, the annual Gate River Run has been held annually since March 1977. It has been the US National road running, road race Championship since 1994 and is the largest race of its distance in the country with over 13,000 runners, spectators, and volunteers, making it Jacksonville's largest participation sporting event.
WJXT-TV, March 15, 2009-15K Take To Streets in 15K River Run In college football, the Gator Bowl is held on January 1. It has been continuously held since 1946. Also, the Florida–Georgia game (also known as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party"), the annual college football game between the rival Florida Gators football, Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia Bulldogs has been held in Jacksonville almost yearly since 1933. For six days in July the Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is held for fishermen of all skills. With $500,000 of prizes up for grabs, up to 1000 boats participate with almost 30,000 spectators watching. Jacksonville is also home of River City Pride which is Northeast Florida's largest Gay Pride parade. The parade and festivities usually take place over the course of the weekend, usually the first or second weekend in October in Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood. The first pride parade was held in 1978.
A number of cultural events are also held in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jazz Festival, held downtown, is the second-largest jazz festival in the nation, while ''Springing the Blues'', one of the oldest and largest blues festivals, has been held in Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...
since 1990. The World of Nations Celebration has been held in Metropolitan Park since 1993, and features a number of events, food and souvenirs from various countries.
The Art Walk, a monthly outdoor art festival on the first Wednesday of each month, is sponsored by Downtown Vision, Inc, an organization which works to promote artistic talent and venues on the First Coast. Jacksonville is home to many breweries and a growing number of distilleries. Other events include the Blessing of the Fleet held in March since 1985 and the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair in November at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds and Exposition Center featuring games, rides, food, entertainment and livestock exhibition. One Spark is the largest annual crowdfunding event held for creators to showcase their ideas for a chance to win part of $300,000 in funding. Riverside Arts Market (RAM), an outdoor arts-and-crafts market on the Riverwalk, occurs every Saturday from March to December under the canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge. Holiday celebrations include the Freedom, Fanfare & Fireworks celebration on Independence Day (United States), July 4, the lighting of Jacksonville's official Christmas tree at the Jacksonville Landing (now removed) on the day after Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving and the Jacksonville Light Parade of boats the following day.
The VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which opened in 2003, is a 16,000-seat performance venue that attracts national entertainment, sporting events and also houses the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame. It replaced the outdated Jacksonville Coliseum that was built in 1960 and demolished on June 26, 2003. The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens boasts the second largest animal collection in the state. The zoo features elephants, lions, and jaguars, with an exhibit, ''Range of the Jaguar'', hosted by the former owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
, Wayne Weaver, Delores and Wayne Weaver. It also has a multitude of reptile houses, free flight aviaries, and many other animals. Adventure Landing is an amusement park with locations in Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach. The Jacksonville Beach location contains Shipwreck Island, Duval County's only waterpark.
Theatre Jacksonville was organized in 1919 as the ''Little Theatre'' and is one of the oldest continually producing community theatre, community theaters in the United States. The Alhambra Dinner Theatre, on the Southside near the University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
, has offered professional productions that often starred well-known actors since 1967. There are also a number of popular community theatres such as ''Players by the Sea'' in Jacksonville Beach and The 5 & Dime Theatre Co. in Downtown Jacksonville. The Murray Hill Art Center was reopened in February 2012 through a partnership of the Jacksonville Parks and Recreation (JaxParks) and the Art League of Jacksonville, a nonprofit dedicated to arts education. The center is in the historic Murray Hill area and offers community arts classes as well as shared studio space for aspiring artists. Visitors are welcomed year around for events and classes.
Jacksonville has two fully enclosed shopping malls. The oldest is the Regency Square Mall (Jacksonville, Florida), Regency Square Mall, which opened in 1967 and is on former sand dunes in the Arlington area. The other is The Avenues (shopping mall), The Avenues Mall. It opened in 1990 on the Southside at the intersection of I-95 and US 1. There is a third indoor mall in the metropolitan area, The Orange Park Mall, but it's just outside of Jacksonville in Orange Park, Florida, in Clay County, Florida, Clay County.
The St. Johns Town Center opened in 2005, on the south side of Jacksonville. River City Marketplace opened in 2006, on the north side of Jacksonville. Both of these are "open-air" malls, with a mix of stores but not contained under the same roof.
Literature, film and television
A handful of significant literary works and authors are associated with Jacksonville and the surrounding area. Perhaps the most important is James Weldon Johnson, who moved North and was influential in the Harlem Renaissance. In 1920 he also became the first African American to lead the NAACP civil rights organization. His first success as a writer was the poem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (1899), which his brother Rosamond Johnson set to music; the song became unofficially known as the "Negro National Anthem."
Already famous for having written ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), northern writer Harriet Beecher Stowe published ''Palmetto Leaves'' in 1873. A travel guide and memoir about her winters in the town of Mandarin, Florida, it was one of the first guides written about Florida and stimulated the state's first boom in the 1880s of tourism and residential development.
Jacksonville embraced the movies. Sun-Ray Cinema, also known as the 5 Points Theatre and Riverside Theatre, opened in 1927. It was the first theater in Florida equipped to show the new "talking pictures" and the third nationally. It is in the Five Points (Jacksonville), Five Points section of town and was renamed as the ''Five Points Theater'' in 1949.
The Florida Theatre, also opened in 1927, is in downtown Jacksonville and is one of only four remaining high-style movie palaces that were built in Florida during the Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival architectural boom of the 1920s. Since that time, Jacksonville has been chosen by a number of film and television studios for location shooting. Notable motion pictures that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville since the silent film era include the classic thriller, ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' (1954).
Since the late 20th century, the city has attracted numerous film companies, which shot ''The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking'' (1988), ''Brenda Starr (1989 film), Brenda Starr'' (1989), ''G.I. Jane'' (1997), ''The Devil's Advocate (1997 film), The Devil's Advocate'' (1997), ''Ride'' (1998), ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love (film), Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' (1998), ''Forces of Nature (1999 film), Forces of Nature'' (1999), ''Tigerland'' (2000), ''Sunshine State (film), Sunshine State'' (2002), ''Basic (film), Basic'' (2003), ''The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film), The Manchurian Candidate'' (2004), ''Lonely Hearts (2006 film), Lonely Hearts'' (2006), ''Moving McAllister'' (2007), ''The Year of Getting to Know Us'' (2008), ''The Ramen Girl'' (2008) and ''Like Dandelion Dust'' (2009).
Notable television series or made-for-television films that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville include ''Inherit the Wind (1988 film), Inherit the Wind'' (1988), ''Orpheus Descending'' (1990), ''Saved by the Light'' (1995), ''The Babysitter's Seduction'' (1996), ''First Time Felon'' (1997), ''Safe Harbor (film), Safe Harbor'' (2009), ''Recount (film), Recount'' (2008), ''American Idol'' (2009), and ''Ash vs Evil Dead'' (2015).
Museums and art galleries
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is an art museum in Jacksonville's Riverside, Jacksonville, Florida, Riverside neighborhood. It was founded in 1961, following the death of Ninah Mae Holden Cummer, who bequeathed her art collection, house and gardens to the museum. Its galleries display one of the world's three most comprehensive collections of Meissen porcelain, as well as large collections of American, European, and Japanese art. The grounds contain two acres of Italian and English gardens begun by Ninah Cummer.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (MOCA Jacksonville) is a contemporary art museum funded and operated as a "cultural resource" of the University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
. Tracing its roots to the formation of Jacksonville's Fine Arts Society in 1924, it opened its current facility in 2003 next to the Main Library downtown. The museum features eclectic permanent and traveling exhibitions, and a collection of over 700 works.[
The Museum of Science & History (MOSH), in downtown's Southbank Riverwalk, specializes in science and local history exhibits. It features a main exhibit that changes quarterly, plus three floors of nature exhibits, an extensive exhibit on the history of Northeast Florida, a hands-on science area, and the area's only astronomy theater, the Bryan Gooding Planetarium.]
Kingsley Plantation is a historic plantations in the American South, plantation built in 1798. The house of Zephaniah Kingsley, barn, kitchen, and slave cabins have been preserved.
Alexander Brest, founder of Duval Engineering and Contracting Co., was the benefactor for the Alexander Brest Museum and Gallery on the campus of Jacksonville University. The exhibits are a diverse collection of Ivory carving, carved ivory, Pre-Columbian artifacts, Steuben Glass Works, Steuben glass, Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain and cloisonné, Tiffany glass, Edward Marshall Boehm, Boehm porcelain, and rotating exhibits of the work of local, regional, national and international artists.
Three other art galleries are at educational institutions in town. Florida State College at Jacksonville has the Kent Gallery on their westside campus and the Wilson Center for the Arts at their main campus. The University Gallery is on the campus of the University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
.
The Jacksonville Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum (Jacksonville), Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is a branch of the world's largest private collection of original manuscripts and documents. The museum in Jacksonville is in a 1921 neoclassical building on the outskirts of downtown. In addition to document displays, an antique-book library has numerous volumes dating from the late 19th century.
The Catherine Street Fire Station building is on the National Register of Historic Places; it was relocated to Metropolitan Park in 1993. It houses the Jacksonville Fire Museum and features more than 500 artifacts, including an 1806 hand pumper.
The LaVilla Museum opened in 1999 and features a permanent display of African-American history. In addition, the art exhibits are changed periodically.
The city has several outstanding historical properties, some of which have been adapted to new uses. These include the Klutho Building, the Morocco Temple, Old Morocco Temple Building, the Palm and Cycad Arboretum, and the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, originally built as Union Station train depot. The Jacksonville Historical Society showcases two restoration projects: the 1887 St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Jacksonville, Florida), St. Andrews Episcopal Church and the 1879 Merrill House, both near the sports complex.
The Jacksonville Naval Museum opened in 2022 with the museum ship USS Orleck, USS ''Orleck'' as its centerpiece. This museum gives tribute to the city's naval history.
Music
The Ritz Theatre (Jacksonville), Ritz Theatre, opened in 1929, is in the LaVilla, Jacksonville, Florida, LaVilla neighborhood of the northern part of Jacksonville's downtown. The Jacksonville music scene was active in the 1930s in LaVilla, which was known as "Harlem of the South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
". Black musicians from across the country visited Jacksonville to play standing room only performances at the Ritz Theatre (Jacksonville), Ritz Theatre and the ''Knights of Pythias Hall''. Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong were a few of the legendary performers who appeared. After his mother died when he was 15, Ray Charles lived with friends of his mother while he played piano at the Ritz for a year, before moving on to fame and fortune. The Ritz Theatre was rebuilt, and reopened in October 1999.
The Jacksonville Jazz Festival has been held for than 40 years. It takes place over the three-day Memorial Day weekend, and includes the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition.
During the 1960s, the Classics IV was the most successful pop rock band from Jacksonville. Southern Rock was defined by the Allman Brothers Band, which formed in 1969 in Jacksonville. Lynyrd Skynyrd achieved near cult status and inspired Blackfoot (band), Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet and 38 Special (band), .38 Special, all successful in the 1970s. The 1980s were a quiet decade for musical talent in Jacksonville.
The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts consists of three distinct halls: the ''Jim & Jan Moran Theater'', a venue for touring Broadway shows; the ''Jacoby Symphony Hall'', home of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra; and the ''Terry Theater'', intended for small shows and recitals. The building was originally erected as the Civic Auditorium in 1962 and underwent a major renovation and construction in 1996.
The next local group to achieve national success was the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994. Other popular acts from Jacksonville were hip hop music, hip hop acts 95 South, 69 Boyz, and the Quad City DJ's. The bands Inspection 12, Cold (band), Cold, and Yellowcard were also well known and had a large following. After 2000, Fit For Rivals, Burn Season, Evergreen Terrace, Shinedown, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Electric President, and Black Kids became notable bands from the city.
Sports
Jacksonville is home to one Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major league professional sports, sports team, the Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
of the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). The Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in the 1995 season; they play their home games at TIAA Bank Field. In 2005, Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...
. The PGA Tour, which organizes the main professional golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
tournaments in the U.S., is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Ponte Vedra Beach, where it holds The Players Championship every year.
Jacksonville is also home to several minor league-level teams. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, a Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A baseball team, have played in Jacksonville continuously since 1970 and have consistently been near the top of their league in attendance. The Jacksonville Sharks, who began play in 2010, were the champions of the Arena Football League's ArenaBowl XXIV in 2011 and now play in the National Arena League, where they have won two league championships. The Jacksonville Axemen are a semi-professional rugby league team founded in 2006, and now play in the USA Rugby League. The Jacksonville Giants basketball team started play in the new American Basketball Association (2000–present), American Basketball Association in December 2010. The Giants won the 2011–12 ABA season, 2012 ABA Championship in March 2012 in Tampa, Florida. The Jacksonville Armada FC is a soccer team that began play in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2015. The Jacksonville Icemen is a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2017–18 season. The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
All Elite Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville and a competitor of WWE.
College sports, especially college football, are popular in Jacksonville. The city hosts the Florida–Georgia game, an annual college football game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia and the Gator Bowl, TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, a post-season college football bowl game. Jacksonville's two universities compete in NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I: the University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
North Florida Ospreys, Ospreys and the Jacksonville University Jacksonville Dolphins, Dolphins, both in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Government and politics
Government
In 1968 Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated their governments in the Jacksonville Consolidation
The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.
Background
In 1934, the Florida Constitution was amended to give the Fl ...
. This eliminated a separate county executive or legislature, and supplanted these positions with the Mayor of Jacksonville and the City Council of the City of Jacksonville, respectively. Because of this, voters who live ''outside'' of the city limits of Jacksonville but ''inside'' Duval County may vote in elections for these positions and run for them. In 1995, John Delaney (Florida politician), John Delaney, a resident of Neptune Beach
Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach ...
within Duval County, was elected as mayor of the city of Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is organized under the city charter and provides for a "strong" Mayor–council government, mayor–council form of city government. The Mayor of Jacksonville is elected to four-year terms and serves as the head of the government's executive branch. The Jacksonville City Council comprises nineteen members, fourteen representing single-member district, single-member electoral districts of roughly equal populations, and five elected for at-large seats. The mayor oversees most city departments, though some are independent or quasi-independent. Law enforcement is provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, headed by an elected sheriff; public schools are overseen by Duval County Public Schools, and several services are provided by largely independent authorities. The mayor holds veto power over all resolutions and ordinances made by the city council and also has the power to hire and fire the heads of various city departments.
As before the consolidation, some government services are operated independently of city and county authority. In accordance with Florida law, the elected school board has nearly complete autonomy. Jacksonville also has several quasi-independent government agencies which only nominally answer to the consolidated authority, including JEA, electric authority, port authority, transportation authority, housing authority and airport authority. The main environmental and agricultural body is the Duval County Soil and Water Conservation District, which works closely with other area, state, and federal agencies.
The Jacksonville Housing Authority (JHA) is the quasi-independent agency responsible for public housing and subsidized housing in Jacksonville. The Mayor and City Council of Jacksonville established the JHA in 1994 to create a community service-oriented, public housing agency with innovative ideas and a different attitude. The primary goal was to provide safe, clean, affordable housing for eligible low and moderate income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The secondary goal was to provide effective social services, work with residents to improve their quality of life, encourage employment and self-sufficiency, and help residents move out of assisted housing. To that end, JHA works with HabiJax to help low and moderate income families to escape the public housing cycle and become successful, productive, homeowners and taxpayers.
Politics
The present mayor is Lenny Curry, who assumed office on July 1, 2015. The past mayor was Alvin Brown (politician), Alvin Brown.[Gibbons, Timothy J. (May 18, 2011).]
Alvin Brown makes history, becoming city's first African-American mayor
. ''The Florida Times-Union''. Retrieved on May 18, 2011.
Most of the city is in the Florida's 4th congressional district, and is represented by Republican John Rutherford (Florida politician), John Rutherford. Most of central Jacksonville is in the Florida's 5th congressional district, 5th district, represented by Democrat Al Lawson. The 4th and 5th districts have been characterized by analysts as some of the most Gerrymandering, gerrymandered districts in the country In 2014, the Florida Supreme Court ordered the state legislature to redraw at least eight of the congressional districts to correct inequities.
In 2010, Duval County's crime rate was 5,106 per 100,000 people, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The county's murder rate had been the highest among Florida's counties with a population of 500,000 or more for eleven years in 2009, leading to widespread discussion in the community about how to deal with the problem. In 2010 Duval County's violent crime rate decreased by 9.3% from the previous year, with total crime decreasing 7.3%, putting the murder rate behind Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County.
Jacksonville and Duval County historically maintained separate police agencies: the Jacksonville Police Department and Duval County Sheriff's Office. As part of consolidation in 1968, the two merged, creating the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). The JSO is headed by the elected Sheriff of Jacksonville, currently Pat Ivey (sheriff), Pat Ivey, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill a vacancy in 2022. It is responsible for law enforcement and corrections in the county.
Education
Primary and secondary education
Public primary and secondary schools in Jacksonville and Duval County are administered by Duval County Public Schools, which is governed by an elected, seven-member Duval County School Board. In the 2009–2010 school year, the district enrolled 123,000 students. It administers 172 total schools, including 103 elementary schools, 25 middle schools, 19 High school (North America), high schools, three K–8 schools, and one 6–12 school, as well as 13 charter schools and a juvenile justice school program. Of these, 62 are designated magnet schools.[
Three of Jacksonville's high schools, Stanton College Preparatory School, Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts and Paxon School for Advanced Studies regularly appear at the top of ''Newsweek'' magazine's annual list of the country's top public high schools, coming in respectively at #3, #7, and #8 in the 2010 edition.][Mathews, Jay]
America's Best High Schools: The List
''Newsweek'' magazine, June 13, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2011. Five other schools, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (#33), Mandarin High School (#97), Duncan U. Fletcher High School (#205), Sandalwood High School (#210), and Englewood High School (Florida), Englewood High School (#1146) were also included in the list.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine operates a number of Catholic schools in Jacksonville, including two high schools, Bishop Kenny High School and Bishop John J. Snyder High School. Other private schools in Jacksonville include Arlington Country Day School, the Bolles School, Trinity Christian Academy, and the Episcopal School of Jacksonville.
Colleges and universities
Jacksonville is home to a number of institutions of higher education. The University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
(UNF), opened in 1972, is a public institution and a member of the State University System of Florida. Jacksonville University (JU) is a private institution founded in 1934. Edward Waters College, established in 1866, is the oldest college in Jacksonville and the state's oldest historically black college. Florida State College at Jacksonville is a state university, state college and a member of the Florida College System, offering two-year associate's degrees as well as some four-year bachelor's degrees. The University of Florida has its second campus of the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center in Jacksonville.
Other colleges and universities in Jacksonville include Trinity Baptist College, and Jones College (Jacksonville), Jones College. Also in the area are St. Johns River State College, a state university, state college with campuses in Clay County, Florida, Clay, St. Johns County, Florida, St. Johns, and Putnam County, Florida, Putnam Counties, and Flagler College in St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
. The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science also offers educational programs from its Mayo Clinic Jacksonville campus.
File:UNF Student Union pic.jpg, University of North Florida
The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...
File:JU2014.JPG, Jacksonville University
File:Building A, FSCJ.JPG, Florida State College at Jacksonville
File:Jax FL Waters College Admin Bldg sq pano02.jpg, Edward Waters University
Public libraries
The Jacksonville Public Library (Florida), Jacksonville Public Library had its beginnings when May Moore and Florence Murphy started the Jacksonville Library and Literary Association in 1878. The Association was populated by various prominent Jacksonville residents and sought to create a free public library and reading room for the city.
Over the course of 127 years, the system has grown from that one room library to become one of the largest in the state. The Jacksonville library system includes the Main Library and 20 branches, ranging in size from the West Regional Library to smaller neighborhood libraries like Westbrook and Eastside. The Library annually receives nearly 4 million visitors and circulates over 6 million items. Nearly 500,000 library cards are held by area residents.
On November 12, 2005, the new Jacksonville Public Library (Florida)#Main Library, Main Library opened to the public, replacing the 40-year-old Haydon Burns Library. The largest public library in the state, the opening of the new main library marked the completion of an unprecedented period of growth for the system under the Better Jacksonville Plan
The Better Jacksonville Plan is a growth management plan implemented by the city of Jacksonville, Florida. It was the signature project of Mayor John Delaney. It was approved by Jacksonville voters on September 5, 2000. Lex Hester was a key advis ...
. The new Main Library offers specialized reading rooms, public access to hundreds of computers and public displays of art, an extensive collection of books, and special collections ranging from the African-American Collection to the recently opened Holocaust Collection.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Roadways and bridges
There are seven bridges over the St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
at Jacksonville. They include (starting from furthest downstream) the Dames Point Bridge, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (Dames Point) (which carries Interstate 295 Eastern Beltway traffic), the Mathews Bridge, John E. Mathews Bridge, the Hart Bridge, Isaiah D. Hart Bridge, the Main Street Bridge (Jacksonville), John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge (Main Street), the Acosta Bridge, St. Elmo W. Acosta Bridge, the Fuller Warren Bridge (which carries Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 traffic) and the Buckman Bridge, Henry Holland Buckman Bridge (which carries Interstate 295 (Florida), I-295 North/South traffic). Also, next to the Acosta Bridge is a large jackknife railroad bridge built in the 1920s by Henry Flagler's FEC Railroad.
Beginning in 1953, tolls were charged on the Hart, Mathews, Fuller Warren and Main Street bridges to pay for bridge construction, renovations and many other highway projects. As Jacksonville grew, toll plazas created bottlenecks and caused delays and accidents during rush hours. In 1988, Jacksonville voters chose to eliminate toll collection and replace the revenue with a ½ cent local sales tax increase. In 1989, the toll booths were removed.
Interstate 10 in Florida, Interstate 10 (I-10) and Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 intersect in Jacksonville, forming the busiest freeway interchange in the region with 200,000 vehicles each day. I-10 ends at this intersection (the other end being in Santa Monica, California). Additionally, Florida State Road 202, State Road 202 (J. Turner Butler Boulevard) provides freeway access to the Jacksonville beaches from I-95 on the Southside.
I-95 has a bypass route, Interstate 295 (Florida), I-295, which ring road, encircles the downtown area. The major freeway interchange at I-295 and SR 202 was finally completed on December 24, 2008. Florida State Road 9B, SR 9B was completed in late 2019, and connects I-295's southeast corner to the Bayard Area. The SR 9B freeway will be called I-795 when it is completed. U.S. Route 1 in Florida, U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) and U.S. Route 17 in Florida, US 17 travel through the city from the south to the north, and U.S. Route 23 in Florida, US 23 enters the city Concurrency (road), running concurrently with US 1. In downtown, US 23 splits from US 1 and quickly runs to its southern terminus.
The eastern terminus of U.S. Route 90 in Florida, US 90 is in nearby Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...
near the Atlantic Ocean.
US 23's other end is in Mackinaw City, Michigan.
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Several regional transportation projects have been undertaken in recent years to deal with congestion on Jacksonville freeways. A $152 million project to create a high-speed interchange at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 95 began in February 2005, after the conclusion of Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...
. Construction was expected to take nearly six years with multiple lane flyovers and the requirement that the interchange remain open throughout the project. The previous configuration used single lane, low speed, curved ramps which created backups during rush hours and contributed to accidents.
Also, construction of SR 9B (future Interstate 795 (Florida), Interstate 795), is currently underway.
File:I95555.jpg, I-95 passing by downtown Jacksonville
File:Jacksonville Acosta Bridge Panorama.jpg, Acosta Bridge
File:Mathews Bridge.jpg, Mathews Bridge
File:Fuller Warren Bridge, Jacksonville FL 1 Panorama.jpg, Fuller Warren Bridge
File:MSBJaxFL.jpg, Main Street Bridge (Jacksonville), Main St Bridge
File:HartBridgeJax.jpg, Hart Bridge
File:Dames Point Bridge, Jacksonville FL Pano 2.jpg, Dames Point Bridge
File:Buckman Bridge, Jaxsonville FL Panorama 1 3667.jpg, Buckman Bridge
Transit system
The Jacksonville Skyway is an automated people mover connecting Florida State College at Jacksonville downtown campus, the Northbank central business district, Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, Convention Center, and Southbank locations. The system includes 8 stops connected by two lines. The existing train is a UMIII monorail built by Bombardier. The guideway consists of concrete beams which rest atop an unusually large support structure not used in most monorail systems. Maximum speed for the train is .
A monorail was first proposed in the 1970s as part of a mobility plan hoping to attract interest from the Urban Mass Transit Administration's Downtown Peoplemover Program. The initial study was undertaken by the Florida Department of Transportation and Jacksonville's planning department, who took the Skyway project to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in 1977. Following further development and a final 18-month feasibility study, the UMTA selected Jacksonville as one of seven cities to receive federal funding for an automated people mover. Two other related projects are Miami's Metromover and Detroit's People Mover. UMTA's approved plan called for the construction of a Phase I system to be built in three segments.
Modal characteristics
In 2014, the Jacksonville was among the top large cities ranked by percentage of commuters who drove to work alone (80 percent). According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 80 percent of city of Jacksonville residents commuted in single-occupancy vehicles, 8.6 percent carpooled, 2.6 percent used public transportation, and 2.7 percent walked. All other forms of transportation combined for 1.7 percent of the commuter modal share, while 4.5 percent worked out of the home.
Some patterns of car ownership are similar to national averages. In 2015, 8.3 percent of city of Jacksonville households lacked a car, which increased slightly to 8.7 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Jacksonville averaged 1.62 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.
Rail
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service from the Jacksonville (Amtrak station), Jacksonville Amtrak Station on Clifford Lane in the northwest section of the city. Two trains presently stop there, the ''Silver Meteor'' and ''Silver Star (passenger train), Silver Star''. Jacksonville was also served by the thrice-weekly ''Sunset Limited'' and the daily ''Silver Palm (Amtrak), Silver Palm''. Service on the ''Silver Palm'' was cut back to Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
in 2002. The ''Sunset Limited'' route was truncated at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas as a result of the track damage in the Gulf Coast area caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005. Service was restored as far east as New Orleans by late October 2005, but Amtrak has opted not to fully restore service into Florida.
Jacksonville is the headquarters of two significant freight railroads. CSX Transportation, owns a large building on the downtown riverbank that is a significant part of the skyline. Florida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a pr ...
and RailAmerica also call Jacksonville home.
Airports
Jacksonville is served by Jacksonville International Airport , 13 miles north of downtown, with 82 departures a day to 27 nonstop destination cities. Airports in Jacksonville are managed by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA). Smaller aircraft use Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport in Arlington, Herlong Recreational Airport on the Westside, and Cecil Airport , at Cecil Commerce Center. The state of Florida has designated Cecil Airport a space port, allowing horizontal lift spacecraft to use the facility.
Seaports
Public seaports in Jacksonville are managed by the Jacksonville Port Authority, known as JAXPORT. Four modern deepwater () seaport facilities, including America's newest cruise port, make Jacksonville a full-service international seaport. In FY2006, JAXPORT handled 8.7 million tons of cargo, including nearly 610,000 vehicles, which ranks Jacksonville second in the nation in automobile handling, behind only the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The 20 other maritime facilities not managed by the Port Authority move about 10 million tons of additional cargo in and out of the St. Johns River. In terms of total tonnage, the Port of Jacksonville ranks 40th nationally; within Florida, it is third behind Tampa and Port Everglades.
In 2003, the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal opened, providing cruise service for 1,500 passengers to Key West, Florida, the Bahamas, and Mexico via Carnival Cruise Lines ship, Grand Celebration, Celebration, which was retired in April 2008. For almost five months, no cruises originated from Jacksonville until September 20, 2008, when the cruise ship Carnival Fascination, Fascination departed with 2,079 passengers. In Fiscal year 2006, there were 78 cruise ship sailings with 128,745 passengers. A JaxPort spokesperson said in 2008 that they expect 170,000 passengers to sail each year.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue operates Fireboats of Jacksonville, Florida, a fleet of three fireboats. Its vessels are called on to fight approximately 75 fires per year.
The Mayport Ferry connects the north and south ends of State Road A1A between Mayport and Fort George Island, and is the last active ferry in Florida. The state of Florida transferred responsibility for ferry operations to JAXPORT on October 1, 2007.
Utilities
Basic utilities in Jacksonville (water, sewer, electric) are provided by JEA (formerly the Jacksonville Electric Authority). According to Article 21 of the ''Jacksonville City Charter'',
JEA is authorized to own, manage and operate a utilities system within and outside the City of Jacksonville. JEA is created for the express purpose of acquiring, constructing, operating, financing and otherwise have plenary authority with respect to electric, water, sewer, natural gas and such other utility systems as may be under its control now or in the future.
TECO Energy, People's Gas is Jacksonville's natural gas provider. Comcast is Jacksonville's local cable provider. AT&T Corporation, AT&T (formerly BellSouth) is Jacksonville's local phone provider, and their U-Verse service offers TV, internet, and VoIP phone service to customers served by fiber-to-the-premises or fiber-to-the-node using a Video ready access device, VRAD. The city has a successful recycling program with separate pickups for garbage, Green waste, yard waste and recycling. Collection is provided by several private companies under contract to the City of Jacksonville.
Health
Major players in the Jacksonville health care industry include St. Vincent's HealthCare, Baptist Health (Florida), Baptist Health and UF Health Jacksonville for local residents. Additionally, Nemours Foundation, Nemours Children's Clinic and Mayo Clinic Jacksonville each draw patients regionally.
The TaxExemptWorld.com website, which compiles Internal Revenue Service data, reported that in 2007, there are 2,910 distinct, active, tax exempt/non-profit organizations in Jacksonville which, excluding Credit Unions, had a total income of $7.08 billion and assets of $9.54 billion.
There are 333 charitable organizations with assets of over $1 million. The largest share of assets was tied to Medical facilities, $4.5 billion. The problems of the homeless are addressed by several non-profits, most notably the Sulzbacher Center and the Clara White Mission.
Notable people
Sister cities
Jacksonville's sister cities are:
* Bahía Blanca, Argentina (1967)
* Murmansk, Russia (1975), Dormant status
* Changwon, South Korea (1983)
* Nantes, France (1984)
* Yingkou, China (1990)
* Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa (2000)
* Curitiba, Brazil (2009)
* San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico (2009)
In 2000, Sister Cities International awarded Jacksonville the Innovation Arts & Culture Award for the city's program with Nantes.
See also
* Duval County, Florida
* Jacksonville metropolitan area, Greater Jacksonville
* List of people from Jacksonville, Florida
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Duval County, Florida
* New World Publications (1972)
Notes
References
Further reading
* Bartley, Abel A. ''Keeping the Faith: Race, Politics, and Social Development in Jacksonville, Florida, 1940–1970,'' Greenwood Publishing, 2000.
*Bean, Shawn. ''The First Hollywood: Florida and the Golden Age of Silent Filmmaking'', University Press of Florida, 2008.
* Cassanello, Robert. ''To Render Invisible: Jim Crow and Public Life in New South Jacksonville.'' Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2013.
* Cowart, John Wilson. ''Crackers and Carpetbaggers: Moments in the History of Jacksonville, Florida.''
* Cowart, John Wilson. ''Heroes all: a history of firefighting in Jacksonville.''
*Crooks, James B.
Jacksonville After the Fire, 1901-1909
', University Press of Florida, 1991.
* Crooks, James B. ''Jacksonville: The Consolidation Story, from Civil Rights to the Jaguars,'' University Press of Florida, 2004.
* Foley, Bill; Wood, Wayne (2001). ''The great fire of 1901'' (1st ed.). Jacksonville, Florida: The Jacksonville Historical Society.
* Jackson, David H., Jr.
"'Industrious, Thrifty, and Ambitious': Jacksonville's African American Businesspeople during the Jim Crow Era,"
''Florida Historical Quarterly,'' 90 (Spring 2012), 453–87.
* Mason, Jr., Herman. ''African-American Life in Jacksonville,'' Arcadia Publishing, 1997.
*Merritt, Webster
''A Century of Medicine in Jacksonville and Duval County''
University of Florida Press, 1949.
* Oehser, John. ''Jags to Riches: The Cinderella Season of the Jacksonville Jaguars,'' St. Martins Press, 1997.
* Schafer, Daniel.
From scratch pads and dreams: A ten year history of the University of North Florida
'' University of North Florida, 1982.
* Wagman, Jules. ''Jacksonville and Florida's First Coast,'' Windsor Publishing, 1989.
* Williams, Caroyln. ''Historic Photos of Jacksonville,'' Turner Publishing Company, 2006.
External links
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Visit Jacksonville
official tourism website of Jacksonville
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{{#related:Florida
Jacksonville, Florida,
Cities in Duval County, Florida
Cities in Florida
Cities in the Jacksonville metropolitan area
Consolidated city-counties
County seats in Florida
Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean
Populated places established in 1822
Populated places on the St. Johns River
Port cities and towns of the Florida Atlantic coast
1822 establishments in Florida Territory
Census balances in the United States
Andrew Jackson