After the Civil War, Jacksonville became a big&nbsp;tourist destination. Those travelers to the city who got sick had difficulty finding hotel rooms to stay or hospitals that would take them in. Unfortunately, it took the passing of&nbsp;two of these tourists&nbsp;in the winter of&nbsp;1872 to compel local residents to take action. Three women (Mrs. Theodore Hartridge, Mrs. Aristides Doggett, and Mrs. J. D. Mitchell) took charge and started a charitable society that would collect funds for a hospital. In March 1873, the society was able to buy a small two-room building as the new hospital. In 1876, a new brick hospital that was close to opening burned down. The process of raising funds began again and the current structure was built in 1878. It is not clear when it became the repository for the society.

Old St. Luke's Hospital 
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, photo uploaded by Ebyabe

Other

The official website of the Jacksonville Historical Society. 

Website

A Century in Medicine in Jacksonville and Duval County by Webster Merritt

Book

National Register of Historic Places Inventory for Old St. Luke's Hospital. 

Now the archival repository for the Jacksonville Historical Society, the Old St. Luke's Hospital, built in 1878, was the city's first established hospital and functioned as a such until 1914. The archive features rare photographs, diaries, maps, manuscripts, films and other items relating to city history and the history of Northeast Florida. The building itself was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 

Old St. Luke's Hospital (Jacksonville Historical Society Archives) 

This short drive through Jacksonville includes a variety of historic buildings on both sides of the river and also incorporates many of the city's museums, heritage centers, and parks.

The Woman’s Club of Jacksonville was a historical woman’s
club that was constructed in 1927 by Ninah Cummer. The land was donated by Ninah Cummer and
sits beside the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens that sits on the land which
was once their home. The architect, Mellen Clark Greeley, designed the building
in the same Tudor-style as the adjacent estate. The building served as the
Woman’s club until 2005, where they donated all their records to the
Jacksonville Historical Society.&nbsp;(1)

Arthur Cummer’s wife Ninah, was the one responsible for the
creation of the organization. Ninah was active in many charitable groups and an
important part of the Riverside Society. She was also an “avid gardener and knowledgeable
collector"(2)&nbsp;of European art and treasures. All the things she collected were
then donated and turned into the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens after her
death.&nbsp;(2, 3)

The Woman’s Club that was built on the land Ninah donated,
allowed women of Jacksonville to become involved in advocating for the cause of
women’s suffrage and other pressing issues. The 13,264 square foot building is
now added to the U.S. National Register of Historical Places (#92001505). Its
period of significance was between the years of 1925 and 1949, where it was
used as a social clubhouse.&nbsp;(1, 4)

The Woman's Club of Jacksonville is a historical woman's club that is located next to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historical Places on November 3, 1992. It was involved in the promoting of women's suffrage as well as other issues.

Woman's Club of Jacksonville

Nina was born in Michigan in 1875 and attended the University of Michigan where she studied Greek and Latin. She herself would teach these languages in Michigan for a few years after her graduation. Cummer also met her future husband, Arthur, there at the school. Arthur’s father was named Wellington Cummer, owner of a lumber company that was once the largest landowner in the state of Florida. In 1902, the couple had been married and built their home alongside Riverside Avenue. Arthur’s family lived nearby them once they were moved into their new home.The couple purchased their first piece of art in 1906 which was named Along the Stand painted by artist Paul King. The painting depicted the image of two men riding horse-drawn carriages on a beach. In 1932, Arthur’s mother, Ada, would pass away leaving her sons to split the property after destroying the previous home. Ninah hired Ellen Biddle Shipman as a landscape architect to help build the Italian Garden on her land. The Italian Garden would combine with Ninah’s sister-in-law’s Olmsted Garden once it was finished. After her husband’s death in 1943, Ninah started gathering and collecting art as a hobby.The year before she died, she created the DeEtte Holden Cummer Museum Foundation to help expand her vision after her death. Ninah would die in the year of 1958 leaving her art collection and gardens to the newly-formed foundation in order for it all to be turned into a museum. The Cummer Gallery, the former name of the museum, would be constructed and officially opened on November 11, 1961. The grand opening of the museum was attended by approximately 1,000 guests including the mayor of Jacksonville W. Haydon Burns and Florida Governor Farris Bryant. Mayor Burns would say to the guests:<blockquote>”The people of Jacksonville have never received a gift comparable in generosity or beauty to the museum...a testament of the heritage of the past and representing the strength and character of those who were leaders of Jacksonville in the past.” -Mayor W. Haydon Burns</blockquote>Inside the museum’s collection, there are 51 paintings put on display by an artist known as James McBey, French art loaned from a NYC gallery, and American paintings from the National Academy of Design. In 1971, the museum celebrated ten years since their opening year by opening a wing for 17th Century art. In 1989, they acquired an ancient Egyptian stela making it the oldest piece of art collected at the museum. On January 25, 2010, the Cummer Gardens would find themselves placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Cummer Museum opened in 1961 and presently houses over 5,000 works of art spanning 8,000 years including significant European and American paintings and a renowned Meissen porcelain collection. Visitors can also tour the beautiful formal gardens overlooking the St. Johns River. The gardens were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 thanks to their association with five important landscape artists and firms of the 20th century as well as to the person for whom the museum is named after, Ninah Cummer (1875-1958). Cummer was an avid horticulturalist and towards the end of her life began to collect art that would become the first part of the museum's collection.

Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

Treaty Oak is believed to be the oldest living organism in Jacksonville, with a history dating back to before the establishment of the city itself. The massive tree is at least 250 years old, with some forestry experts suggesting it might be significantly older. Aside from its age, Treaty Oak is magnificent both in its stature and the tale that kept the tree preserved since the 1930s. At 70 feet tall and 25 feet in circumference, the massive landmark is visible long before visitors reach its branches that touch the ground. The crown spreads over 145 feet, making it an ideal spot for tourists and city residents alike to escape the sun or revel in awe of the sheer size, beauty, and history of the tree. It has been host to wedding venues, countless “selfies” and photographers desperately attempting to capture its size in one frame, concerts, and more, but what truly makes Treaty Oak fascinating is the lie that was told to keep its roots firmly planted in the Jessie Ball DuPont Park where it stands today. Originally, the tree was known as Giant Oak, and stood in the middle of the Dixieland Amusement Park that opened in 1907. At that time, the tree’s branches were decorated with lights, and it stood as the centerpiece to the theme park that was constructed around it. Famous faces were featured with Treaty Oak as the backdrop; John Philip Sousa had concerts under the tree and Babe Ruth played exhibition baseball games nearby. It was also a location rented out to numerous silent film companies to shoot movies. Children in the amusement park often climbed its branches as if it was just another ride or attraction at the park. Dixieland closed in 1916, and several years later, Treaty Oak’s future was threatened. In the 1930s, city developers were expanding into the Southbank area, and the park became one of their targets. In order to protect the longstanding tree, a local reporter decided to take matters into his own hands. Pat Moran wrote an article claiming white Floridians and early Native American settlers had signed a treaty under Giant Oak, leading to the Garden Club of Jacksonville making attempts to preserve it. Soon, the story was reprinted, with other versions claiming the treaty was between Andrew Jackson and Seminole Chief Osceola, although Jackson never actually traveled into the Jacksonville area. Because of claims, even today, that the area was Osceola’s favorite camp ground and was used for Native American councils of war, the story stuck, and people in the city dubbed Giant Oak as a landmark for the “historic event” that never actually took place there. So, in 1934, Jessie Ball DuPont’s foundation purchased the land Giant Oak was on, under DuPont’s advisement. A member of the club’s Early Settler’s Circle, DuPont may have been the only other person to know that the story of the treaty was false; nevertheless, she was determined to protect the tree. After Moran’s story, Giant Oak was instead coined Treaty Oak. However, in 1964, its lifespan was again threatened by developers and mistreatment from residents who did not recognize that their enjoyment of the tree was also causing it to suffer. Not only were there plans to construct a nine-story apartment building on the site, but there are claims that experts counted 135 children in the tree at one time. Rope swings and playful kids weakened the branches, while couples carved their initials into the fragile bark of the trunk. “Precision” jumpers used it as a parkour activity in which they jumped through the limbs, trying to avoid them. That year, DuPont and the Garden Club bought the remaining seven lots around the tree to be given to the city for use as a public park. Upon DuPont’s death in 1970, the park was named in her honor. In 1986, JEA began a program to preserve the history of Treaty Oak by growing seedling from the oak’s acorns, which would be available through Greenscape to be distributed and replanted throughout the city. Since that time, hundreds have been planted. A historical marker on the Camp Milton Historic Preserve near Halsema Road North and Old Plank Road marks the site where one of those seedlings has grown, named the “Treaty Live Oak” marker. In 1995, a combined effort of the city, the DuPont Fund, private groups, and individuals was made to preserve Treaty Oak itself. Lightning protection systems as well as cables to support heavy limbs that might damage the trunk were installed, and a wooden walkway was built around the tree so visitors to the park could still walk under its branches. In 2001, it was featured as one of 17 trees in Jeffrey Meyer’s America’s Famous and Historic Trees: From George Washington’s Tulip Poplar to Elvis Presley’s Pin Oak. Treaty Oak is estimated to live another 400 years thanks to the preservation efforts that began with a lie in the 1930s and continues today with an appreciation both for the tree and its storied history.

Known for many years simple as the "Giant Oak," this beloved Jacksonville tree later became known as "Treaty Oak" after locals who hoped to save the tree from a developer's bulldozer in the 1930s fabricated a story about the tree's role in history. The 250-year-old tree is older than the city of Jacksonville, so when developers threatened to cut it down, a journalist claimed a famous Native American treaty took place at this location. Such a story was difficult to disprove and the story spread rapidly, so the massive tree soon became a landmark. To this day, many people casually share the story of the tree's location as the place of a major treaty with Native tribes, even though the event was fabricated. The story of this tree and its preservation demonstrates the willingness of many Americans to readily believe any story about Native American history regardless of sources. It also shows the lengths to which normally honest people were willing to go to save their beloved tree. The tree was later threatened again by development plans, leading once again to more efforts to connect it to the history of the city as well as photographs of dozens of local children within the 70-foot oak. Although it is now known that the tree’s life was spared due to misinformation about a treaty that never took place, the story of the lie offers a useful reminder about the subjective nature of many cherished myths and the way that they can take a life of their own. The tree is healthy, and locals estimate that it should remain a Jacksonville landmark for another 400 years as long as conservation efforts are successful. 

Treaty Oak Park

The museum opened as the Jacksonville Children's Museum in 1948 in a home on Riverside Avenue (it was chartered in 1941). In 1969 the current building, smaller at the time, was constructed. The museum changed its name in 1977 to the Jacksonville Museum of Arts and Sciences but adopted its current name in 1988; the planetarium was also built that year.

Visitors to the Museum of Science & History will be able to learn about northeast Florida's cultural and natural history, as well as about the history of space exploration. It features numerous exhibits that look at human health, Florida's marine life, renewable energy, and Florida's cultural history from 12,000 years ago to the 1960s. It also features the largest single-lens planetarium in the world and a small animal exhibit where visitors can get a close-up look at turtles, baby alligators, snakes, owls, and other small animals. 


Jacksonville Museum of Science & History

When Friendship Fountain opened in St. Johns River Park in Jacksonville, Florida in 1965, it was the largest and tallest fountain in the world at the time. Originally called the “Fountain of Friendship in Dallas Thomas Park,” it was named by a Rotary Club member based off the club’s principle of friendship, with the park named after City Commissioner Dallas Thomas. The fountain was designed by Taylor Hardwick in 1963 at a cost of $1.7 million, with the land for the park and fountain donated by the Southside Business Men’s Club. To give Friendship Fountain its world-renowned title, three pumps sprayed 17,000 gallons of water per minute to a height of 120 feet, or 10 stories. The 200-foot-wide basin of the fountain was also extraordinary, holding 500,000 gallons of water to create a magnificent structure for people of the city to visit. It was in 1968 that the “Fountain of Friendship in Dallas Park” was renamed to Friendship Fountain. Thomas was named by a grand jury on 37 counts charging larceny and six counts of acceptance of bribes, alleging he stole $23,766 from the city over a five-year span. Thomas, along with seven other former officials charged with similar crimes, gained widespread notoriety for their wrongdoing. Thomas’s July 17, 1967 trial had to be moved from Duval County to Orange County by Criminal Court Judge Warren Nelson, at the request of Thomas’s lawyer Chester Bedell, just for him to receive a fair trial from an impartial jury away from the publicity. Afterwards, the fountain and park were permanently renamed. Originally, Friendship Fountain was located on 14 acres of land, but development gradually reduced the park’s size. The site was home to The Lobster House Restaurant, the location where parts from the Creature From the Black Lagoon movies were filmed. Sitting in between the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge and once-railroad Acosta Bridge, the fountain and restaurant were busy to foot traffic, one of the aspects that made the grand structure such an iconic piece of the town’s history. In 1962, the restaurant was destroyed due to a fire, and the Diamondhead Restaurant opened adjacent to the site. Because it was in a busy location, the restaurant needed to expand, greatly reducing the size of the park. At one point, expansions in the city almost wiped the fountain out entirely. Friendship Fountain fell into disrepair several times throughout its years. The first significant renovation project occurred in 1985. That project included the adjacent Southbank Riverwalk. For the next 15 years, the fountain was functional but by 2001 more work was needed. At this point, a $1.3 million rehabilitation included six light towers controlled by a computer system. Seven months later, a power outage damaged the computer and caused 40 of the lights to need repairs. The fountain needed repairs three years later as two out of three of the original pumps failed in 2005. Parts to restore the aging fountain were no longer available, requiring an entire replacement of the fountain’s water system. It was in 2006 that the city began to make plans to completely remove the fountain, due to the extensive damage that had occurred the year prior. The mayor’s idea was to destroy the fountain to be replaced with an interactive kiddie pool, with the Kids Kampus site being moved to the location of the fountain. The plan would free up the existing Kids Kampus to be used as a “flex space” for concerts and other large events. However, the existing Kids Kampus was on 10 acres of land, and by that time, the Southbank area with the park was only on seven remaining acres. Additionally, Kids Kampus was only built five years prior at a cost of $4.7 million. The plan was met with harsh criticism from city residents, not only for flaws in logistics of the plan, but for the historical value and beauty the fountain brought to the city. Many considered it a landmark, writing letters of how they were proposed to there, or how their children grew up playing around the fountain, and making suggestions of how a better idea would be to renovate the surrounding area to its former glory, with more grass areas, trees, and benches, so the fountain could be enjoyed by more people and tourists. Because Friendship Fountain’s future was uncertain, the Jacksonville Historical Society included it on their list of Jacksonville’s Most Endangered Historic Buildings by 2009. In 2010, rather than removing the fountain, the city opted for a $3.1 million renovation, which included an energy-efficient remodel. The 252 multicolored incandescent lights were replaced with 159 LED lights. A wind anemometer was also installed to measure wind speeds automatically, raising or lowering the fountain jets accordingly. The new operation saved 130,000 watts of energy, a huge win for the environment and the city. In 2019, another multi-million renovation began, this time at a price of $6 million. It includes state-of-the-art water and sound shows in which lights in the fountain synch with music, as well as a maintenance budget, so in the case that the fountain has any issues again, it will not be costly to repair nor long-term. Planning for the upgrades began when Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer was on the City Council, however, the finishing date is not set until 2021. With Fluidity acting as designer and Acore and Freeport Fountains as contractors, the design will also include a new wall design, pumps, lights, and seating. Another project also adds lights to the nearby Acosta Bridge, so the bridge can coordinate with the fountain for musical lightshows and other events. Upon its completion, Friendship Fountain will again be the site of events and celebrations.

This Jacksonville landmark was the largest and tallest fountain in the world when it was completed in 1965. The jets of the fountain are capable of sending water ten stories high, and so many people came to enjoy the fountain and the park that the area's retail and restaurants flourished and the overall size of the park was reduced to support commercial development. Originally named the “Fountain of Friendship at Dallas Thomas Park,” the name was shortened after the city commissioner became involved in a financial scandal. After several multi-million dollar repairs, the city’s mayor favored a plan to replace the fountain to make room for a kid’s interactive park. The plan was met with opposition from city residents who saw the fountain as a landmark. Despite its need for costly repairs, the fountain was preserved and a multi-million dollar repair project is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Friendship Fountain

The Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center is located at the Jacksonville Landing next to the Toy Factory. It preserves and shares the city's maritime history through exhibits, artifacts, a library, educational programs, public lectures, and publications.


Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center [Closed]

El Modelo Cigar Factory was the largest in Jacksonville at a time when cigar-making was one of the area's largest employers. The factory moved into the building three years after the building’s construction between 1886 and 1887. Sustained by a large Cuban population in Jacksonville, this was one of the major centers of support for Cuban revolutionaries. There ere fifteen cigar factories in the city by 1895 and together they produced around six million hand-rolled cigars per year. El Modelo was the largest of the factories and employed 225 workers with an annual payroll of around $145,000-$147,000 and workers receiving anywhere from $9 to $35 per week. Under general management and then ownership of Gabriel Hidalgo Gato, the company garnered worldwide attention for a variety of cigars such as “La Tropica,” “El Modelo,” “Hamlet,” “La Capitalo,” “El Deicite,” and the “Florida Alligator.” Cigars in the factory were manufactured on the third floor of the three-story brick building and they were sold on the second floor; however, the factory was not just known for making headway in one of the most profitable industries in the city. Gato’s brother-in-law, Jose Alejandro Huau, was an agent of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and Cuban Political Club in Jacksonville. He assisted the founder of Cuba’s Revolutionary Party, Jose Marti, in eight trips to Jacksonville to gain support and money for the organization. On December 23, 1893, he gave a speech at El Modelo Cigar Factory to rally support for Cuban independence from Spain. Because of the building’s history both with Jacksonville’s Cuban population and the cigar industry, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In 1898, the Gato family sold the company to the El Esmero Cigar Manufacturing Company, owned by Vicente Guerra, for $42,000. It operated that way in conjunction with a knitting mill and several stores on the ground floor for several years. On May 3, 1901, the Great Fire of Jacksonville destroyed most of the city, but the El Modelo building was one of the few structures that survived. Yet, less than a month later, another fire destroyed the knitting mill and cigar factory, causing interior damage but sparing the external structure of the building. Afterward, the location passed to various tenants, as it had once before when it was originally built in 1886 as offices, a grain shop, a drugstore, and an upholstery shop, then referred to as “Foster’s Block” after the owner and builder, George R. Foster. Some of its uses after 1900 included a tavern, a knitting mill, a dental office, a Salvation Army hall, a used clothing store, and, most notably, a hotel. The hotel lasted from 1915-1965, but under several different names: the New York Hotel (1915-1921), the Hillsboro (1922-1925), the Commercial Hotel (1926-1927), the Hillsborough (1928), the Southern Hotel (1930-1932), and its most well-known name, the Plaza Hotel (1950-1965). By 1965, the hotel had closed and the building known as “The Modelo Block” was vacant except for a pawn shop on the first floor. In 1971, Ray Norton, retired senior vice president of Flagship Bank of North Florida, bought the location and sold the iron beds and nightstands that still remained on the second floor from its days as a hotel. He also removed the large fire escapes due to possible safety concerns. In 1982 he sold the building, which became known as the “1887 Building” for the year construction was completed. In 1983, the law firm of Moseley, Prichard, Parrish, Knight, &amp; Jones bought the property and cleared the interior, created steel supports inside and replacing the pine flooring with steel-reinforced concrete for support. Some of the timber was salvaged for furniture and to be laid over the concrete flooring. During the process, two vaults were discovered with a sign proposing rooms for 50 cents per night from the building’s time as a hotel. They also found several glass medicine bottles and pink cards advertising dentistry work such as gold crowns and bridges for only $3 to $5, which was given to local dentists’ offices. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and its connection to businesses such as the hotel and people connected to the cigar industry. The building is listed on the Florida Division of Historical Resource’s Florida Cuban Heritage Trail, and a plaque commemorating its time as El Modelo remains on the building thanks to the Jacksonville Historic Landmarks Commission.

In the late 19th century, El Modelo Cigar Factory was located here and was the leader in Jacksonville's cigar manufacturing industry which represented one of the largest industries in the city. The largest of the fifteen cigar-producing factories in the city that collectively produced six million hand-made cigars annually,  The building was completed in 1887 and was used to produce cigars from 1890 until 1898. The building was also one of the few structures that survived the Great Fire of 1901 and was later home to several hotels. The cigar-making industry employed a large Cuban population, but it was short-lived in Florida as a result of several factors. After the building was sold in 1898, it was home to a variety of tenants, most notably the Plaza Hotel. To this day, the building is still referred to as the “El Modelo Block” and the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1983, a law firm purchased the property.

El Modelo Cigar Factory (1890-1898)

On November 17, 1919 the Jacksonville Terminal replaced an older terminal in Jacksonville, Florida, which accommodated the five major railroads serving the city, and remained the largest railroad station in the Southeast until its closing in 1974. In 1893, Henry Flagler organized the Jacksonville Terminal Company (JTC) and built the original Union Depot. The JTC was officially incorporated on April 7, 1894, and the depot opened the following year on February 4, 1895. By 1912, at least 92 trains per day were passing through the station, requiring a larger station to be constructed. Planning began immediately, and in 1915, New York architect Kenneth Mackensie Murchison won a nationwide competition to design the new terminal. In 1919, construction was complete, and the Jacksonville Terminal opened. The nearby McCoys Creek had to be re-channeled for the large project, during which 2,000 piling were driven into the ground to create a 180-foot façade of 14 Doric columns, mimicking New York City’s Pennsylvania Station. The new terminal consisted of 40.727 miles of railroad tracks, as well as a union passenger depot, engine terminal, passenger and freight yards, and a restaurant. Additionally, it contained a 75-foot barrel vaulted ceiling above the main waiting room, as well as a Black waiting room during the time of segregation with a more detailed ceiling. Upon completion, around 142 trains and 20,000 passengers saw the station each day. Shortly after its opening, the “Florida Boom” created even more traffic, and more tracks had to be added. The Jacksonville Terminal ended up with 14 stub and 11 through passenger tracks with butterfly covered platforms, as well as two tracks for through freight trains. A subway with ramps was required to reach the outer or through tracks. During the Great Depression, the “New Town” area of additional tracks was closed off, but reopened during World War II when around 100,000 servicemen and civilians made their way to Jacksonville Terminal daily. The five major rail companies controlling the JTC were the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company, Florida East Coast Railway Company, Seaboard Air Line Railway Company, Southern Railway Company, and Georgia Southern Florida Railway Company. February 2, 1939 was the Seaboard Air Line’s debut of new Diesel Streamliner technology with the Silver Meteor, which had lightweight, stainless steel cars and is now one of just two surviving trains to Florida under Amtrak. On December 19, 1940 the Florida East Coast Railway Company made similar strides with its first run of the “pocket streamliner” The Henry M. Flagler, which was a contribution to a new family of trains that each had a unique route to Chicago. In the early 60s, renovations were made to the terminal. They consisted of wooden platforms being replaced by concrete, shed roofs receiving metal covers, freight tracks were dug deeper to accommodate higher railcars, and a lower ceiling was installed to conceal an attempt to add floors above the waiting room. However, by 1963, the companies controlling the JTC began to stop service for various reasons. That year, the Florida East Coast Railway Company was the first to cease service due to the breakout of a strike. In 1964, the Southern Railway Company followed suit, and by July 1968, the last Florida East Coast train made its trip out of the Jacksonville Terminal. By 1971, Amtrak only had four trains operating in both directions at the terminal. The following year, another restoration was completed by William Morgan. However, on January 3, 1974, the Floridian, the last passenger train, left the Jacksonville Terminal, closing its doors for good after it suffered from decreased rail travel in conjunction with higher modern maintenance costs. From 1982-1985 a restoration was completed once more, this time to convert the terminal into what it operates as today, the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. With 78,000 square feet of exhibit space and 22 meeting rooms, it remains the only southern railroad station in the nation to be converted into a state-of-the-art convention center. In 1976, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its time as the largest terminal in the Southeast.

The Jacksonville Terminal was opened in 1919 and operated as the largest rail station in the Southeast until the time of its closing nearly 55 years later. It was organized by Henry Flagler to accommodate the five major railroad companies that served Jacksonville, Florida in 1893, but because of a high traffic volume, it had to be rebuilt into a larger facility soon after. During its prime, around World War II, the station saw about 100,000 people per day. Unfortunately, decreased rail travel and increased maintenance costs caused the terminal to close in 1974, but the building remained in good condition. From 1982-1985 it was renovated and converted into the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, the only one of its kind in the nation, which it still stands as today. In 1976, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places for its time as the Jacksonville Terminal.

Jacksonville Terminal

The Old Brewster Hospital and Nurse Training School opened in Jacksonville, Florida in 1901, making it the first medical facility to employ Black physicians and serve the Black community in the city. It was also one of the first training hospitals for African Americans in the nation. The building was constructed in 1885 and served as the private residence of a meat dealer. The hone was located in La Villa at 915 West Monroe Street and later moved to this location. The hospital began with Hattie Emerson, who noticed girls at her school, Boylan-Haven School, a private institution for African American girls, were interested in nursing. In conjunction with the Women’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, she prepared to formally train the young women at Boylan-Haven. In 1901, the school hired Iowa Benson, who had graduated from the nursing program at Belleview Hospital in New York City, and they began training the students. However, that same year, the Great Fire of 1901 burned down a majority of the city. The school was quickly overrun with sick and wounded patients, as well as many people who had become homeless in the disaster, and they desperately needed a larger facility. In honor of her late husband, Reverend George A. Brewster, Matilda Cutting Brewster from Danielson, Connecticut, made a donation of $1,000 to help fund the hospital. Her contribution helped the school purchase the 915 West Monroe facility, which was one of the few buildings to survive the fire in 1901.That year, the Old Brewster Hospital made 1,230 house calls. It thrived because many health care institutions on the First Coast would not admit African Americans during the time of segregation; therefore, it was Jacksonville residents’ only option for the Black community. In 1903, Boylan-Haven separated from Brewster Hospital, which continued its own nursing program, but remained located directly behind the hospital. By 1910, the Old Brewster Hospital had become so popular that it once again required a larger facility and relocated to a different area in La Villa. In 1930, funds were raised for a large, 95-bed brick building on North Jefferson Street in what was once the Old Sugar Hill neighborhood. Ground was broken on May 31 that year, and by March 29, 1931, the building was completed and dedicated, at which time the hospital moved again. During the hospital’s stay in that location, officials of Brewster Hospital published brochures inviting the state’s African American doctors to send their patients.In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and other health care facilities were open to all residents. Consequentially, Brewster Hospital suffered from a drop in revenue and in 1966, Brewster Hospital officially closed. On October 1, 1967, it reopened as Methodist Hospital. In 1976, the original Brewster Hospital that stood on 915 West Monroe was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In the final decades of the last century, it was used as a rooming house. Afterward, it sat empty for years and was in danger of collapsing until the 2000s, when renovations began on the structure.In 2005, the building was lifted and moved to its present site nearby its original home, at 843 West Monroe Street. In 2007, the city funded a $2.3 million restoration of the building after it had been empty for nearly a decade. In 2012, a historical marker was erected outside Old Brewster Hospital by the Brewster and Community Nurses Alumni Association and the Florida Department of State. Then, in 2019, the nonprofit North Florida Land Trust completed a $391,000 renovation, with an additional $150,000 from the city, in order to lease the property. Plans to do so began two years prior via the president of the trust, Jim McCarthy. During the renovation, the organization restored a parlor room along the brick façade to be open as a “museum” with displays of memorabilia and meetings organized through the Brewster and Community Nurses Alumni Association. They also added a 15-space parking lot behind the facility, as well as refurbished the original wooden floors and staircase, reconfigured space for conference and break rooms, leaving original hearths, and built a locker room with a shower. The building encompasses 5,700 square feet of restored Victorian-style details.

Constructed in 1885, this building was home to the first hospital in Jacksonville, Florida that was operated by and open to members of the Black community in 1901. This was also one of only a few hospitals that offered training for African American physicians and nurses at the time it opened, although there would be several dozen Black-owned and operated hospitals in the decades that followed. The hospital closed in 1966 following the admission of Black patients at other hospitals and the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act. In its six decades of operation, the hospital served thousands of Black residents of Jacksonville and was practically the only place to receive emergency medical care until the mid-1960s. Brewster Hospital grew quickly and moved to a larger facility several times. This structure was one of the few in the area that withstood the Great Fire of 1901, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2019, the structure was restored at a cost of over $500,000 and now houses the North Florida Land Trust.

Brewster Hospital (1901); North Florida Land Trust.

&nbsp;&nbsp;The Ritz Theatre and Museum&nbsp;takes one back in time to experience
the purpose and motivation of the rise of the African American community with
their historical exhibits as well as music, productions, dance, and movies.&nbsp; There was an exciting array of culture and
activity from 1921 to 1971 in what is now known as LaVilla, but once recognized
as the “Harlem of the South” that is now the&nbsp;Ritz Theatre and Museum.&nbsp;

&nbsp; It is a place that
not only preserves the past history of the African American culture of the Jacksonville&nbsp;area, but it also educates the present of what once was. It educates one on the
hardships that the African Americans encountered during the 20’s throughout the
70’s such as segregation. It preserves not only the history but it entertains and
preserves the “African American artistic culture”.&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;Through reproduction of events through show and exhibits one
can reflect and feel the lives of the African American community and culture
from the past where many accomplishments were made against racism and inequality.
The Ritz conserves and supports the Black culture and heritage of the community and past era. It also gives one the opportunity to experience the stories of Jacksonville
what it impacted during the time of segregation and the civil rights movement.&nbsp;

It consists of 11,000 square feet museum and presents a
collection of historical artifacts, documents and paraphernalia from that era. The
programs,photos, artifacts, and events continue to grow with the help of the
community and donations made allowing one to experience local history. It also
has a theatre that seats around 426 guests for things such as shows,
productions, and movies. It is known as the “center of African American culture
in Florida.” At the museum, you can find artifacts or pictures involving Ax Handle Saturday, a significant movement,&nbsp;along with information about Eartha and Clara White, important humanitarian figures.

The Ritz Theater is in a traditionally Black commercial district in the La Villa neighborhood. This Art Deco style building built in 1929 housed a cinema, shops and offices. The Black community made the Ritz and the surrounding buildings into an arts, entertainment, and shopping area. The original Ritz Theater structure was demolished but, the decorative corner and sign were incorporated into the new Ritz Theatre and La Villa Museum. Inside the La Villa Museum, the African American history exhibit tells the story of everyday life in northeast Florida. The theater presents African American shows and educational performances.

Ritz Theatre and Museum

In April of 1903, members of the Seminole Club purchased the location on Hogan Street in Jacksonville, Florida, to operate as a prestigious men's club for elite business deals and parties. Appropriating the name of the Seminole tribe, the exclusive men's club operated from this location until its closing nearly 90 years later. Demonstrating change over time, the club that once held such influence over the social, political, and economic life of the city declined in the final decades of the 20th century. Whereas this was once the location of private dinners and meetings that shaped the political and economic life of the city, the building is now home to a specialty candy maker. The Seminole Club was founded in 1887 on or around St. Patrick’s Day, at a time when many cities across the nation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were establishing similar clubs. Its purpose was to be a men’s social club where they could conduct business over lunch and secure business deals, often with brandy and cigars. Upon the club’s establishment in 1887, “a few gentlemen” initially met at the Law Exchange Building, according to newspaper accounts from the time. It was Jacksonville’s oldest social club for men and the seventh-oldest in the country. Several years after renting space at the Law Exchange Building, the club occupied a building located on 11 East Forsyth Street. However, soon after claiming the space as their first building to be exclusively occupied by the Seminole Club, it burned down in the Main Street Fire of 1891. Afterward, they moved to a property on North Main Street, but again, that structure was lost to fire in the Great Fire of 1901 that burned most of downtown Jacksonville. In 1903, the club purchased the property on Hogan Street, which was built the year prior. The structure that housed the Seminole Club was built in 1902 in the Prairie School Style by Rutledge Holmes and Arthur Gilkes. The style was popular in Jacksonville for the first two decades of the 20th century, with Frank Lloyd Wright acting as the leading proponent of the style. The Prairie School Style is known for low-pitched roofs with wide overhanging eaves, as well as strong horizontal lines and flowing internal spaces. The 22,000-square-foot location on Hogan Street that housed the club was originally built as a two-story house with a rooftop garden. In 1907, additions were made by the same architects to create a third story which provided 15 rooms for bachelor residents. In addition to being a place for business and bachelors, it contained handball, racquetball, and basketball courts. The Seminole Club became so popular that at one point, around 1,000 names were on the club’s membership roster. It included local figures in business, politics, and law, with judges being given their own designated tables inside the club. It was also a location visited by famous figures. Theodore Roosevelt once gave a campaign speech from the upper balcony and when President John F. Kennedy was a senator, he had coffee at the club after campaigning in the nearby Hemming Park. It was also visited by people such as Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward and President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower. In 1988, 101 years after the club’s establishment, women were finally permitted to join the club when Nancy Seely, the daughter of Lou Ritter, the club’s past president, was allowed to join. Until that time, they were permitted inside the club, but not as members, and only on the first floor. By this time the club and its members no longer exercised the kind of social control that led to membership being so coveted. With business deals and networking happening outside of exclusive social clubs, membership declined and the building was closed and eventually turned into a modern sweets shop. In 1975, Ted Pappas, a local architect, completed a renovation of the club that included adding elevators, which totaled a cost of $1 million. Declining membership reflected changes in society and led to the club’s closure around 1990. In 1998, Restitution Inc., a group of local investors, reopened the club, with several restaurants leasing the building. However, it closed permanently in 2004. In 2006, the building was designated as a historic structure by the city. The same year, it was purchased by Chris Hionides, who then turned it over to the bank in 2011. In 2014, billionaire Marcus Lemonis purchased the property for $550,000 and he, along with a local candy maker and national television show, worked together to relocate Sweet Pete’s from Springfield into the building of the Seminole Club. River City Contractors assisted with a historic renovation, which consisted of removing rotted wood, rebuilding a corner of the front and side porches, moving and adding walls, bringing the structure up to code, and converting the basketball court into a candy production area. In the process, a safe was found that weighed several hundred pounds, and because of its difficulty to move, contractors initially attempted to paint over it. Work was completed around December of that year, with Sweet Pete’s opening next to The Candy Apple Café &amp; Cocktails restaurant. For their renovation, the owners of the contracting company, Alan and Ellen Cottrill, won the Northeast Florida Builder’s Association Remodelers Council Award. Sweet Pete’s remains in the location today.

Home to Jacksonville’s Seminole Club for many years, this building was designed in Prairie School Style and completed in 1902, one year before the club purchased the property to be used as their headquarters. The building was originally meant to be a two-story structure with a rooftop garden, but in 1907, a third floor was added as rooms for club members who were unmarried. Before the club’s closing in 1989, it was Jacksonville’s oldest social club for men and seventh oldest in the country. The restriction against female members joining the club ended just eleven years prior to the sale of the building when the club’s former president’s daughter joined. The club faced declining membership that reflected changes in society that were reflected in the decline of other men's clubs, and the organization closed and sold the budling around 1990. In 2006, the building was designated as a historic structure by the city, and in 2014, the space was renovated to become the location of Sweet Pete’s, which remains there today.

Seminole Club/Building

Jacksonville City Hall once stood at a different location, 220 E. Bay Street, on 2.39 acres of land. The building, designed by the architectural firm Reynold, Smith &amp; Halls, was erected in 1960, and was 228,000 square feet. For its time period, the building was considered advanced in its technologies. It included four high-speed elevators and was completely air-conditioned, also being constructed to be fireproof. It towered 15 stories high, with the north and south sides covered in aluminum frames and cast concrete spandrels with mosaic tiles made of Venetian glass. Despite its beauty and usefulness, in 1997, a majority of the legislative and executive offices moved from that location to their current site, the St. James building. It left just several departments in the old City Hall, such as the State Attorney’s Office, until 2015, when they were also relocated to the old federal courthouse building. It officially closed in 2017. Afterward, city officials moved forward with plans to revitalize the riverfront, moving government buildings elsewhere to make room for more profitable development of private properties, which also included the Duval County Courthouse, since its operations had moved in 2012. The plans, however, began years earlier, when the Hyatt Regency Riverfront was built on what was once a parking lot for the old City Hall in 2001. In the 2017-18 Capital Improvement Program Budget, Mayor Lenny Curry set aside $8 million for both the City Hall and courthouse projects. In August, the contractor Environmental Holdings Group LLC from Mooresville, North Carolina, began preparing the site of the old City Hall for a massive demolition. Preparation included removing asbestos, fixtures, and furniture, and access to surrounding streets and a portion of the St. Johns River were closed before and after the demolition. The nearby Hyatt Regency, however, was able to remain open. In November, the city received permits for the $4.95 million demolition of City Hall and the $3 million demolition of the courthouse. On January 20, 2019, the 59-year-old City Hall structure was removed via explosives in under 10 seconds. Next door, the 63-year-old courthouse was taken down conventionally. While the city was still cleaning the demolition and making plans for the future of the 8.4 acres that were then available on the riverfront, City Hall operations had already been underway for years at the St. James building. The building was originally the St. James Hotel, which opened in 1869 and was the largest hotel in the Southeast and the largest building in Jacksonville at that time. In front of the hotel was also the city’s first park, called the St. James Park before being renamed to Hemming Park, then James Weldon Johnson Park. However, the Great Fire of 1901 that destroyed most of the city also burned the hotel with it. In 1912, Henry J. Klutho, an architect who moved to Jacksonville for work after the fire, rebuilt the St. James. It became the Cohen Brothers Store, later known as May-Cohens, before City Hall operations moved there in 2012. Initially, the building was meant to be two stories, with a balcony wrapping around it. Klutho, however, convinced the owners of the property that adding two more stories for office spaces would make it a place not only of shopping, but of business as well. The building was worth $1 million, and had minor alterations done to both the interior and exterior over the years. According to work permits, in 1959, 1961, and/or 1969 the exterior of the first floor was covered with a layer of texturized concrete coating to give the St. James a more modern look. The most extensive work took place in 1947 by the architectural-engineering firm W. Kenyon Drake and Associates, during which time escalators were installed, a large octagonal dome over the third floor was removed, the open area it occupied on the fourth floor was filled in, and the Church Street elevation was walled up to the fourth floor’s roof line. Throughout remodels, most of the original interior decoration, such as the brass elevator cages, were lost. The St. James is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jacksonville City Hall is currently located in the St. James building at 117 W. Duval Street, which was originally the site of the city’s largest hotel, largest building at the time, and home to the city’s first park across the street. However, the Great Fire of 1901 that burned most of the city also destroyed the hotel. It was rebuilt by Henry J. Klutho in 1912 and turned into a store, before ultimately becoming the location of City Hall operations in 2012, when City Hall was moved from its former location. Prior to the site of the St. James, City Hall was located on E. Bay Street in a 15-story building designed in 1960. After standing for 59 years, city officials made the decision to move government buildings elsewhere to open the riverfront for private developments. On January 20, 2019, explosives were used to demolish the structure.

Jacksonville City Hall

The museum was founded in 1924 as the Jacksonville Fine&nbsp;Arts Society and was located in the old Fleming Mansion. The name was changed to the Jacksonville Museum of Art in 1948. It eventually moved to the Koger Center in the 1960s and featured mostly Chinese antiques and Pre-Columbian artwork. The museum moved into the current building in 2003, after a few years of renovation. To better reflect the collection the museum adopted its current name in 2006.&nbsp;&nbsp;

With more than 1,000 pieces in its permanent collection, MOCA Jacksonville encompasses one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in the Southeast. Its collection includes paintings, installations, prints, sculpture, and photography. Artists represented include  Hans Hofmann, Alexander Calder, Alex Katz, Robert Longo, and Helen Frankenthaler. The museum is located in the former Western Union Telegraph Building.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception originally began as the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1853, being dedicated in 1854 when the church officially began. In 1829, there were no other Catholic churches in the Jacksonville area, with Catholic families instead gathering in their homes to celebrate mass. Priests traveled by horseback from Georgia to lead the services, organized beginning in 1829 as a mission of the Catholic parish in Savannah to bring Catholicism and churches into Florida. Services lasted that way until 1854, when the Diocese of Savannah sent priest William J. Hamilton to Jacksonville to dedicate a new, small wooden church and become its spiritual leader. That same year, Pope Pius IX declared the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, making the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary an Article of Faith. Therefore, it was fitting the church was named in honor of the event. The wooden church lasted until 1863, when Civil War Union soldiers ransacked and then torched the building, completely burning it to the ground. Members of the church requested they be reimbursed by the U.S. government, but to no avail. In 1868, they established a school under the Sisters of St. Joseph, before the community built a second church in the original’s location to be dedicated in 1871. For 30 years, the second church remained, until the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901 destroyed most of the city, taking the church with it. Luckily, the Great Fire prompted many architects to travel to Jacksonville in search of work. One of those architects was M.H. Hubbard, who came from Utica, New York. In 1905, he designed a new Church of the Immaculate Conception. Two years later, the Halsema-Woodcock Company laid the foundation, and the building was completed in 1910. The third construction of the church, which is the oldest Catholic church in Jacksonville and one of the oldest in north Florida, was more magnificent than its prior sisters. At a cost of $160,000, the church two-story church was the tallest building downtown at the time. It was built in a late Gothic Revival style, with a limestone exterior and two towers with carved stone detailed and gold crosses on top. The church contains a bell tower, choir area and balcony, wooden pews, and impressive, full-height, stained glass windows made in Munich, Germany, which depict various biblical scenes. Final additions were made on the building in 1913, marking its completion. In 1979, it was one of few Catholic churches to be “solemnly dedicated,” meaning it cannot be purposefully demolished or used for any reason other than as a church. The church changed its name from the Church of the Immaculate Conception to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in 2013 when it officially received a dedication as a minor basilica. To receive the dedication, a church must be a “center of active and pastoral liturgy with a vibrant Catholic community.” The church’s previous pastor, the late Reverend Antonio Leon, had requested the designation eight years earlier, but the paperwork had been misplaced. However, the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine Bishop Felipe Estevez renewed the request later on, with Rome’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Because of the church’s historical, religious, and artistic importance, Pope Francis dedicated the church as one of only 77 Catholic churches in the U.S. and only six in Florida with the dedication of a basilica. The church now operates under that title, serving 800 families. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated as such by Pope Francis in 2013, making it one of only 77 minor basilicas in the United States. The church began as a Catholic community in 1829, when priests traveled from Georgia via horse to lead prayers in people’s private homes. In 1854, the church was constructed, making it the first Catholic church in Jacksonville, Florida. However, the wooden building was soon burned down by Union soldiers during the Civil War, and later rebuilt. The second building was again lost to fire in the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901, which burned down a majority of the city. Finally, a third, magnificent church was constructed, which still stands today, serving 800 registered families.

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

The Anglican Communion began in the United States when commodore John Hawkins sailed his English fleet onto the St. Johns River in 1565. There, services were read from the Book of Common Prayer on one of his decks, marking the first Anglican worship service in the continental U.S. It was not until 1829, however, that regular services developed. On April 15 of that year, a St. Augustine missionary named Reverend R.A. Henderson made his way into Jacksonville, Florida to hold the first Episcopal services in town. Because it was a new parish, services were held outdoors, but Henderson wrote of the possibility of a church being constructed in the location. The first of its kind in the state, the parish was officially organized in 1834, when members of the church’s community gathered for meetings in individual’s homes, then in the county courthouse. The first construction of St. John’s Cathedral began in 1842 on Billy Goat Hill, which was the highest point of land in the city. However, it was difficult for the church to gather the funds necessary to complete the building. Women sold tea and baked goods, while also offering various sewing services. It was not until nine years later, though, that the church was finally dedicated in 1851. Yet, the church did not last long. During the Civil War, in 1863, Federal troops burned the building to the ground, the same year Union troops did the same to the nearby Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The only thing left of the church was the alter prayer book with the cover reading “St. John’s Episcopal Church, Jacksonville,” but the book was not returned until three years after the fire. A Federal medical officer named Dr. Alfred Walton ran into the burning building and retrieved the book; later on, he made the decision to bring it back to its original home. After the fire and Civil War, services continued to be held in a wooden building referred to as “The Shack.” In 1870, the vestry approved plans for a new 800-person church to be built of brick and granite, and the first services were held there on Easter Sunday in 1877. However, the church later became the victim to catastrophic fire once more. The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed most of downtown Jacksonville, burying St. John’s Cathedral with it, despite the precautions that were taken with fire-resistant building materials such as brick. In 1906, the church community again built a wooden chapel, followed by the present-day cathedral, on the foundation of the former church structure. This time, the building was constructed in a Gothic Revival style of Indiana limestone. In 1951, Right Reverend Frank Alexander Juhan officially designated St. John’s as the first cathedral of the Diocese of Florida. The designation of the cathedral, coming from the Latin cathedra, meaning “bishop’s chair,” is important to the church, as it houses the chair of the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Florida in its chancel. St. John’s Cathedral is also part of the Cathedral District in Jacksonville, which encompasses 118 acres across a 36-block area. It contains five historic houses of worship; aside from St. John’s, they are the First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and the Historic Mt. Zion A.M.E. Today, the church is host to several programs. Not only did members of the church community begin the Episcopal High School, but they also have a meals-on-wheels program to feed elderly and homeless people in the community. Additionally, the Cathedral Arts Project aims to bring art, dance, and music to disadvantaged children. St. John’s Cathedral also creates houses for people in need.

St. John’s Cathedral is the site of the first Episcopal parish in Florida, with outdoor meetings held in the location eight years before the first church was officially built. It was several hundred years before that when the first inklings of the Anglican community began nearby on the St. Johns River, thus giving the church its name. However, after nearly 10 years of underfunding while the first church was built, the building came under fire several times before its fire construction. Once, it was burned during the Civil War, when Federal and Union troops alike where burning parts of the city, and again, in the Great Fire of 1901 that destroyed most of Jacksonville. Today, however, the church is thriving, with several outreach programs and a limestone cathedral built in its original location on the foundation of the churches that had burned down.

St. John's Cathedral

Mount Zion A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church was constructed in Jacksonville, Florida between 1901 and 1905, making it home to the oldest Black congregation in Jacksonville. After the Civil War, a “society” of freedmen (previously enslaved) created the religious group, operating as a “hush harbor,” which were typically used by slaves outside plantation quarters for secret religious observances. The society sent a petition by Major Johnson to the Annual Conference of Georgia, which met in Savannah, for a pastor, and on July 28, 1866, the church was officially recognized by the regional diocese in Savannah, Georgia. That year, membership was around 75-100 people. The group acquired the property on the corner of Beaver and Newnan Streets, constructing a small wooden church in 1870. Soon, the congregation was too large for the building, and another brick structure was built in 1890 to house 1,500 members. The third construction of the Mount Zion A.M.E. Church, however, was short-lived. The Great Fire of 1901 soon destroyed most of the city, crumbling the 11-year-old church building with it. Plans to raise money for another church began immediately; meanwhile, a tent was erected beside the site of the former church, where members worshipped while waiting for the new church to be built. In 1905, architects J.B. Carr &amp; Company completed the present building for $18,000. It was one of seven churches in downtown Jacksonville built between 1901 and 1910, and one of two surviving Romanesque Revival buildings in the city. The style was created by Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886). It is considered the first “truly American architectural design” and encompasses square belfies, arched windows, steeply-pitched roofs, and accentuated turrets. In 1992, the location was placed on the Florida Black Heritage Trail. The same year, it was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2016, the congregation had around 250 members.

Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded by a group of formerly enslaved men in 1866, and the present church in Jacksonville, Florida was completed in 1905. Originally, the group met as a secret “hush harbor, before building their first church at the present site in 1870. The congregation built a second, larger building in 1890, but it was lost in Jacksonville's Great Fire of 1901, thus leading to the construction of this building. In 1992, the church edifice was listed on both the Florida Black Heritage Trail and the National Register of Historic Places.

Historic Jacksonville Driving Tour

Old St. Luke's Hospital (Jacksonville Historical Society Archives)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information