Villa Alexandria Historical Marker

Martha Reed Mitchell was born in March of 1818 in Westford, Massachusetts, before her family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1838 and she met her husband. It was at that time she began her life of charitable work, although she is better known for the magnificent villa she eventually built in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1841, she married Alexander Mitchell, who was a savvy banking, railroad, and insurance businessman, among other occupations. She acquired a portion of his wealth, but put it toward good causes. In Wisconsin, she organized the Protestant Orphan Asylum, where she was its first treasurer, and supported a mission kindergarten to teach underprivileged youth.

Martha’s brother, Harrison Reed, was a Florida governor living along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. After the Civil War, she made a trip to visit him, and soon became a prominent part of the town. For 25 years, she served as president of the St. Luke’s Hospital Association charity, and established the All Saints Episcopal Church. However, her work was overshadowed by the construction of her new home. When Martha visited her brother, she enjoyed the location along the river so much that in 1870 she purchased 140 acres of land in what is present-day San Marco. There, she built a three-story mansion and filled it with her experience from her 18 trips across the ocean.

Aside from the mansion, the estate had stables, tennis courts, a polo field, extensive orange groves, a swimming pool, formal gardens, fountains, artificial streams, and a boathouse so large it was referred to as “the size of a small hotel.” Her carriage way was what is today River Road, and stories claim that chips from her marble fountains are still found in people’s yards. As Martha had seen much of the world, her home reflected that. It contained paintings and furniture from Europe, as well as hand-carved decorative woodwork and silk curtains. Because Jacksonville could not provide lumber large enough to construct the estate, it was transported from Baltimore, as well as expert builders and machines.

Her gardens also largely reflected those same tastes, being home to vegetation from around the globe. Rare trees such as camphor and cinnamon came from Ceylon. Additionally, Martha had tea plants from China, and sacred trees of India. She regularly used the villa for exquisite parties which benefited her several charities, such as the new hospital and All Saints Episcopal Church. The parties were so elaborate that people traveled across the river to be part of the enjoyment. Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, described its beauty as an “Italian Swiss Villa.”

When Martha died in 1902 and was buried in St. Nicholas Cemetery, the estate fell into disrepair. Developer Telfair Stockton demolished the mansion and other buildings surrounding the estate around 1925-1927 in order to create his new San Marco development. In 1929, John and Carl Swisher purchased the first lots in the new development, where they built their own homes where the mansion once stood. In 2013, a historical marker was planted on the site by the San Marco Preservation Society and the Florida Department of State.

1. Martha Reed Mitchell: Putting the D in Doyenne, Jacksonville Historical Society. Accessed September 29th 2020. https://www.jaxhistory.org/martha-reed-mitchell/.
2. Shepherd, Rose. Villa Alexandria and Jacksonville, Library of Congress. July 7th 1959. Accessed September 29th 2020. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/mss/wpalh1/11/1109/11090215/11090215.pdf.
3. Villa Alexandria, Waymarking. May 1st 2015. Accessed September 29th 2020. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMNTN1_Villa_Alexandria.
4. Villa Alexandria, Historical Marker Database. March 18th 2016. Accessed September 29th 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=93119&Result=1.
5. Martha Reed Mitchell 1818, American History and Geneaology Project. Accessed September 29th 2020. http://www.ahgp.org/women/martha_reed_mitchell_1818_.html.
6. Mrs. Alexander Mitchell, Wisconsin Historical Society. Accessed September 29th 2020. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM106346.