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[stjr]

[JeffreyS]

We can not forget Mathew's and Mathew's Market.

[stjr]

What great photos of old San Marco stjr!

Was Pic N Save called Setzer's originally?

Setzers was sold to Food Fair, which eventually was renamed Pantry Pride before going bankrupt.  However, the same (Ben?) Setzer family had, or did, start Pic N' Save as their next business.  Apparently, the family retained certain Setzer stores' real estate and redeveloped those sites as Pic N Save.

[undergroundgourmet]

Vienna cafe. Le Orient was a few doors away manned by Chez Guy LeRoy. Teryl Schneider from Bistro Aix/ Loop did the great interior. (bar was Nobu knock off but done really well). It was managed by Chad Munsey who eventually bought The Grotto from Ben Davis. Chez Guy had a garage sale a few weeks ago and went back to working with Chef Wolfgang Puck oversees. So sorry to see that place close up. Best raw fish in town. Next to take over that spot was a french style restaurant that had a prix fix dinner with wine for $29 dollars any night. Great deal. Now?

[riverside planner]

There was a place called Out to Lunch in the square in the 80s.  I used to go there with my mom on occasion.

[sandyshoes]

Yes!  Out to Lunch - they had really good hotdogs.  Going waay back, wasn't there also a fabric shop there, on the same side as Loop, etc.?  There was also a gift shop on that side (not White's) where we got some really nice Christmas ornaments in the mid/late 1990s.  Geisenhoff's was great, and surprisingly affordable, for San Marco.  The Write Touch was great, the previous owner had a h-u-g-e great dane (hence the dogbed in the window).  It was a fun surprise, for those of us who love doggies, to suddenly find this big old dog head gently nudging your elbow while you pondered a purchase.  If you were not a dog person, I imagine he would have given you a heart attack - no lie, the dog was large.

[Dog Walker]

The "Buster Brown" shoe store was Larry's Shoes - 50's & early 60's.  I can remember looking at the bones in my feet with a fluoroscope device used to check the fit of shoes.  The radiation exposure had to be horrific and the things were pulled off the market fairly quickly it was so dangerous.

Lake Marco was a barrow (sand mine) pit for sand used to raise the level of the ground around San Marco.  Then a little channel was cut to let in the river water to make it a lake.  Originally there was a bridge over the little channel that we called the "thrill" bridge.  You could get your car airborne by going over it at forty mph and the road on either side was scarred up by car undercarriages.  You could frequently find mufflers and tail pipes in the road too.  The bridge was finally replaced with the current bridge to stop the fun nonsense.

I sold the Jacksonville Journal on the corner by the San Marco theater in the afternoons (five cents a copy) and when it rained and Hendricks Ave flooded, a group of us boys from the neighborhood would go to the corner of Naldo, in front of what is now Firehouse Subs where the water was deepest.  We would wait until someone tried to go through the water and stalled out.  Then for a few bucks we would push the car up into the service station that was there at the time so they could dry it out and restart it.

[stjr]

...There was also a gift shop on that side (not White's) where we got some really nice Christmas ornaments in the mid/late 1990s...

Maybe you are thinking of Petersons 5 & 10.  Can't remember if they made it to the 90's or not. They sold this kind of stuff and had, at one point, probably the largest artificial flower selection in Jax.  Originally, most "artificial" stuff was plastic, not "silk".  It was upstairs over the 5 & 10, what is now Jaycox Rienel Architects and other offices.  It seems to me they may have expanded it to downstairs after phasing out the 5 & 10 merchandise, but not sure.

[sandyshoes]

Nice photos, stjr, as always - thanks for sharing.  No, it wasn't Peterson's, it was one of those little boutique-y places, further up towards the other end on that side.  I seem to remember the door was framed in large, wide planks of very dark wood, and the transom above the door, also;  they had lots of ornaments suspended from the ceiling by ribbon and it was like walking into a Christmas wonderland;  back in '96, actually.  The inside was a neutral colored tuscan sort of decor.

[blfair]

The Vienna place was the "Vienna Grill"

Review from '05:

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022505/lif_18047919.shtml

[cracklow]

Peterson's made into the 90s, sort of.  I remember I went to the out of business sale for both the San Marco & 5 points Petersons, I think the San Marco one went out of business in 1994. 

Also, don't forget that before it was Matthew's Market, Sterlings was there & had some kickass chicken salad. Anyone remember the location Sterlings had before that, across from the old Albertsons on Old St Augustine rd near University?  With the cat named eggplant?

[Dog Walker]

Starling's Market, I think.  Woman named Becky was the manager for a long time.

[grimss]

Starlings had awesome fruit salad, too.

[Ocklawaha]

I'm your Huckleberry!

SOUTH JACKSONVILLE MUNICIPAL RAILWAY

(Streetcar)

1923!  SMILE!

OCKLAWAHA

[steppenjax]

I remember Coley Walkers Drug Store, they delivered prescriptions. Thye had a lunch counter inside and at the back  had phone booths with a seat and you could close the doors. I remember getting a mailbox bank and a Lady and the Tramp Golden Book. I have pictures of myself outside...will post when I get the scanner up and running.

Setzers used to have the racing marque lights around their name. My older brother worked there summers when out of college.

There was also a Clark's Meat Market on San Marco Ave. that was a little grocery store. They were famous for their steak hamburgers.

A&P grocery store was still there in the the 70's and going back down towards Philips Hwy and Atlantica Blvd on the edge of San Marco was a Daylight Grocery Store.

Also around the corner from A&P, there was a kosher restaurant "Bernies' where  I worked for awhile.

I also went to the elementary school over by Belmont that is now Apartments. Across the street from the school was a little store that was in a house that all us kids used to frequent.