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;

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville

Website

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.

On this tour, visitors have the opportunity to learn about several of Jacksonville's oldest churches and buildings, as well as pass by the locations of prominent events, such as the fire that burned a majority of the city in 1901 or the location of civil rights demonstrations in the 60s.

Jacksonville Historic Churches and Buildings Walking Tour

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.

Historic Jacksonville Driving Tour 

On this short driving tour, see a variety of monuments, museums, churches, and buildings that were crucial to Jacksonville's history. This tour allows for stops to enter those museums, churches, and parks where the monuments are placed.

Short Historic Jacksonville Driving Tour

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.

Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

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

This church building was erected in 1968, and became the sixth home of the congregation which dates back to Florida statehood. Originally, the church was founded in 1823, when the first Christian worship service was held four blocks from the building’s current location. Near the north bank of the St. Johns River, Reverend John Jerry, Methodist circuit rider, began to conduct worship services on the second floor of a dry goods store. In 1846, the present site was purchased, and a small chapel was built on the property. In 1858, it was dismantled to make room for a larger building that could accommodate a growing congregation. During the Civil War, the sanctuary was used for daily prayer and worship services by Union troops. When the war ended, First United Methodist Church was the location where Florida Unionists held their convention and elected delegates to the Republican National Convention. The congregation built a new sanctuary at this location in 1890. The Great Fire of 1901 burned down a majority of Jacksonville, taking First United Methodist Church with it. The only remnants of the 1890 construction were two brick walls, which were then used in the building of yet another new sanctuary in 1902. In 1922, an educational building that is still used today was erected, but not long after, the church suffered another fire. In October of 1930, it burned down once more, leaving just the memorials walls and windows spared. It was again rebuilt the following year, in 1931. The current and final structure was erected in 1968. Due to the time period of First United Methodist Church’s founding, until 2018, the congregation was primarily white. Two miles west of the church, the Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church, which was constructed in 1884, had a primarily African American congregation. By 2018, both churches suffered from financial issues resulting from both operation and maintenance costs combined with declining memberships. Simpson Memorial needed $500,000 worth of repairs and mold remediation and suffered from termites, water leaks, and the need to complete previous renovation work. First United suffered from similar financial problems and their building also had mold issues that would require substantial funds to fix. Beginning in the summer of 2017, First United Methodist Church pastor Reverend Tony Chance and Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church pastor Reverend Lawrence Q. Barriner, Sr. began discussing the possibility of having the two churches share one building to save both from financial ruin. Although the churches would not merge as one church, they would both operate out of the First United Methodist Church’s space, allowing them to split costs for things such as utility bills and repairs. Both pastors consulted Jay Therrel, the Jacksonville-area district superintendent for the United Methodist Church’s Florida Conference, before each bringing the idea to their members. The two pastors formed a joint task force, and after enlisting five members from each church for help, they discussed details of sharing the space for two months. The group figured out how to separate worship, Sunday school, Bible study, choir practices, and kitchen use. They also had to figure out how to accommodate the Simpson Memorial electric organs and drums, since First United’s chancel area had a pipe organ. Eventually, each church organized two town meetings to inform the congregations. On April 8, they had a joint worship service to celebrate their new relationship.

Six different versions of Jacksonville's First United Methodist Church have been located here since the early 1800s, with the current church being completed in 1968. In the century and a half prior to the completion of this structure, the congregation erected several sanctuaries that were replaced as the congregation grew or in response to two different fires. One of those configurations occurred during the Great Fire of 1901 which destroyed most of the city. The church was originally founded four blocks away in 1823 when members of the small congregation attended services on the second floor of a dry goods store. In 2018, the church suffered from financial trouble due to a declining congregation and increasing maintenance costs. The nearby Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church, a historically African American congregation, was facing similar issues. After a series of meetings and with the support of the members of both two churches, the two congregations formed a partnership with both operating out of the First United Methodist Church building to reduce costs. The two congregations held a joint worship service to celebrate their partnership on April 8.

First United Methodist Church

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

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

Around noon on Friday, May 3, 1901 a spark from a kitchen fire during the lunch hour at a mattress factory set mattresses filled with Spanish moss on fire at the factory located in an area now known as LaVilla.&nbsp;Fueled by wind and dry weather, the fire roared east destroying most structures in its path.The fire was soon discovered and it was thought they could put it out with only a few buckets of water. Consequently an alarm was not turned on until it had gone beyond their control.&nbsp;Located at Davis and Beaver streets, the factory fire soon spread to most of the downtown area. Smoke could be seen as far north as Savannah, Georgia When the fire department arrived, the fire had spread from the outside platform upon which it started, to the pine buildings, which rapidly became a seething mass. Then the breeze sprang up, and the resinous brands and millions of sparks were dropped on the roofs of nearby homes, every few minutes starting a new distributing center and rapidly creating a chaos of fire and smoke. Rapidly it made its way eastward, devouring everything combustible in its path. <div> AftermathThe fire swept through 146 city blocks, destroyed over 2,000 buildings and left almost 10,000 people homeless all in the course of eight hours. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in Savannah, Georgia; smoke plumes in Raleigh, North Carolina. Florida Governor William S. Jennings declared a state of martial law in Jacksonville and dispatched several state militia units to help. Reconstruction started immediately, and the city was returned to civil authority on May 17. Despite the widespread damage, only seven deaths were reported.The marker is in Hemming Park after the fire because the Confederate monument&nbsp;was one of the few structures to survive.&nbsp; Many witnesses claim that the base had a red glow during the fire.The Great Fire was the most destructive event in Jacksonville’s history, wiping out 2,368 buildings while leaving nearly 10,000 people homeless and destroying the majority of Downtown Jacksonville. It was the largest metropolitan fire to have occurred in the South, before or since. This momentous event triggered an unprecedented rebuilding effort that laid the foundation for modern Jacksonville. ReconstructionNew York City&nbsp;architect&nbsp;Henry John Klutho&nbsp;helped rebuild the city. He and other architects, enamored by the "Prairie Style" of architecture then being popularized by architect&nbsp;Frank Lloyd Wright&nbsp;in&nbsp;Chicago&nbsp;and other Midwestern cities, designed exuberant local buildings with a Florida flair.&nbsp;While many of Klutho's buildings were demolished by the 1980s, several of his creations remain, including the&nbsp;St. James Building.&nbsp;Jacksonville has one of the largest collections of Prairie Style buildings outside the Midwest. </div>

In just over eight hours on May 3, 1901, a small fire starting in a LaVilla mattress factory swept through 146 city blocks of Jacksonville. The fire destroyed over 2,000 buildings and claimed seven lives, leaving almost 9,000 people homeless in the process. This tragic event would eventually be known as the Great Fire of 1901, the third largest urban fire in American history, behind the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Chicago Fire of 1871.

Jacksonville's 1901 Fire Marker

Hemming had the monument made to memorialize the soldiers and sailors from Florida who served in the Civil war Charles Hemming was a Florida born confederate soldier. After the war, in 1898, he donated this monument to Jacksonville, where he grew up, and had it placed in St James Park in front of City Hall. A year later the park was renamed to honor him, and it is now known as Hemming Park. “No intelligent and well-informed person of the present day, whose mind is not imbued with fanatical teachings, believes that the Confederates were traitors… No people ever espoused a cause, or went forth to battle in defense of home and country, with a clearer conscience of right in the discharge of duty,” (Brock p114). This was the opening speech at the unveiling ceremony of the monument in 1898. The ceremony was filled with northern and southern soldiers who were stationed in Jacksonville waiting to go fight in the Spanish-American War. The theme of the day was unity between the north and south, and the honor of each. Hemming did not attend, but had a former Confederate Colonel and US Congressman Robert Hamilton McWhorta Davisdson speak on his behalf, “… remember that every monument erected to Confederate soldiers is a reminder of the skill and bravery of the Northern soldiers, who triumphed over courage and heroism unsurpassed ... We are not a divided people ... the Union has been and is forever restored.” There were speeches after speeches, pageants, bands, and singing (Soergel). This day was the embodiment of the Lost Cause, "The war was remembered as primarily a tragedy that led to greater unity and national cohesion, and as a solder’s call to sacrifice in order to save a troubled, but essentially good union, not as the crisis of a nation deeply divided over slavery, race, competing definitions of labor, liberty, political economy, and the future of the West…"(Blight). The deeply embedded ideals of the Lost Cause are the center of the arguments to keep the monument. Those in support feel that the monument represents the unity and bravery of the Florida Soldiers, not a symbol of slavery and oppression. In 1901 “The Great Fire” destroyed almost all of Jacksonville’s core, leaving the Hemming monument as the lone standing structure (Jacksonville). Hemming Park later installed a plaque to commemorate those lost and highlight the symbolism of the Hemming monument, “...the park and its renowned live oaks were devoured by the flames and only the Confederate Monument survived, its base glowing red from heat…” The fire has become a large factor in the fight to keep the monument; It created another excuse to defend it. Arguers now strongly justify the statue by saying it is a symbol of their town's strength and the historical pillar of their perseverance through adversity. In 2016, the call to remove the monument became louder. TakeEmDownJax formed a group and movement aimed at removing all confederate monuments from Jacksonville Florida. They wrote an open letter to the city with demands of the many confederate monuments they wanted taken out of public spaces, "These memorials only serve as a constant reminder of the past and present oppression of the Black community by the rich, white ruling class," (TakeEmDownJax). When the city refused to remove it, the monument began being vandalized with red spray paint and the words “KKK” and “Free Slaves”. Rallies and marches were held in the park in protest of the monuments accompanied with the Jacksonville Peace Keepers During this time, a group of volunteers created the Community Remembrance Project aimed at recognizing the real history of Jacksonville. They proposed a plan to install a memorial alongside the sixty-foot monument. The new installation would be a pillar bearing the names of the seven documented lynching victims in Duval County. The plan was proposed by the former City Council President Anna Lopez Brosche. The council voted 14 to 0 to withdrawal the plan without so much as a discussion. They did so with the justification that they would not address bills from members who would be leaving office the next month, which Brosche was. "[Brosche] said the council’s decision to withdraw the legislation without seeking her input — let alone debating or voting on it — is a sign it lacked enough support to pass. 'It is what it is. It’s unfortunate that this is indicative of how the city of Jacksonville has addressed its racial issues since its inception'" (Hong).

"An Open letter to the city of Jacksonville: We demand that public spaces not be used to uphold symbols of white supremacy" (TakeEmDownJax). The Confederate Soldiers Memorial in Hemming Park is located in front of City Hall in Jacksonville Florida. The memorial is a large sixty-foot-tall granite column, topped with a bronze confederate soldier. The soldier is “in winter uniform, standing at ease, with his gun resting on the ground,” (Cunningham p110). The soldier has the initials of the Jackson Light Infantry on his hat. Along the base of the large column are four bronze plaques- facing north is the bust of Florida born confederate General, General Kirby Smith, on the west side are the words “Our Heroes” accompanied with  a scene featuring General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with their drum crops, the south facing plaque has the bust of the commander of the United Confederate Veteran’s Florida Division, General JJ Dickinson, and the phrase “Tried and True”. The final east facing plaque contains an inscription, widely accredited to Charles Hemming, which reads 
“TO THE SOLDIERS OF FLORIDA This shaft is by a comrade raised in testimony of his love, recalling deeds immortal, heroism unsurpassed. With ranks unbroken, ragged. starved, and decimated, the Southern soldier for duty’s sake, undaunted, stood to the front of battle until no light remained to illumine the field of carnage, save the luster of his chivalry and courage. Nor shall your glory be forgot, While fame her record keeps. CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL 1861-1865” 

The Confederate Soldiers Memorial in Hemming Park

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

“Axe Handle Saturday” was the violent reaction to a series of nonviolent sit-in demonstrations in Jacksonville. Fourty members of the NAACP Youth Council conducted two sit-ins near this historical marker. The first sit-in was at W.T. Grant Department Store, and the other demonstration occurred at Woolworth’s Five and Ten Cent Store. The Youth Council protestors were met with opposition almost immediately, as white residents of the city surrounded the protesters and cursed them. Within minutes the white counter-protesters escalated their taunts, spitting on the youth and screaming violent threats. &nbsp;White men soon arrived armed with bats,&nbsp;axe&nbsp;handles, and eventually police night sticks. Police ignored the mob and their violent threats until a Black street gang called “the Boomerangs” arrived and began defending the protestors. While the Black street gang attempted to shield the protesters, the white men began savagely beating African Americans whether they were part of the protest or simply in the vicinity. African American women and children were not spared. Eventually, those injured from the white mob were able to flee the scene and many took refuge inside Snyder Memorial Methodist Church. With police looking on many of the white assailants continued to patrol the streets in search of a Black person to attack.&nbsp;While the protest and results were captured in&nbsp;Life&nbsp;magazine, the Jacksonville Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal were prohibited by city officials from documenting or reporting on the incident. It is also believed that the Ku Klux Klan may have been involved regarding the violence of Axe Handle Saturday. The police in the Deep South at the time were often accomplices to Klan violence as well.Other civil rights demonstrations occurred in Jacksonville, but Axe Handle Saturday came&nbsp;to represent race relations in the city for many African Americans. Racial tensions had been building for decades prior to the demonstrations on that fateful August day, and unresolved issues and continued forms of structural racism continued well after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This marker was dedicated long after the incident and is part of the city's gradual willingness to acknowledge its often troubled past. In 2012, Jacksonville elected their first African American mayor, fifty-two years after the brutal incident in Hemming Park.

On August 27, 1960, a group of 40 Youth Council demonstrators from the Jacksonville Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) conducted a sit-in at the W.T. Grant Department Store, as well as Woolworth’s Five and Ten Cent Store, located on Hogan Street. The demonstrators were met with violence, attacked by 150 white men with bats and axe handles. This demonstration was a turning point for the city’s race relations, making the public more aware of the severity of the civil rights struggle in the United States. Within ten years of this demonstration, lunch counters were integrated, and Duval County Schools began the process of desegregation. The W.T. Grant and Woolworth’s sit-ins serve as reminders to the dangerous struggle African Americans faced when seeking democratic freedom in the United States.

Jacksonville Historic Churches and Buildings Walking Tour

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information