The Ghosts of Jacksonville's Past

[avonjax]

It is sad to think of the ignorance that has been in power in Jacksonville for so long. They have allowed the core of the city to be destroyed.

But decaying buildings with pieces falling down from above (laura trio) should be the norm? Sure they are/were great buildings, but no one uses them. Find a use, pay the rent, and use them. Allowing a building to sit empty just because it "looks cool", is a sad reason to keep a building, and a dangerous one. When you walk along the street at night, if you are one of the few, with a parking lot, you can see people coming, as opposed to the people hiding in the corridors of delapadated buildings that should have been levelled a long time ago.

I love what the Seminole Club used to be, but it has sat empty for a very long time, and while it is sad, if the City inspectors had to condemn it and demolish it, I would not mind. Same goes for the old JEA building on Julia. You can't save every building downtown, instead enjoy what is left and make do with what you have.

Living in the past is like visiting and re-visiting history hoping that the past can alter the present.

Or we could come to your neighborhood and raze every 2nd or 3rd house, leave the foundation and let the weeds grow and see how desirable that would be.....
Just a thought.....

[Raysfan16]

Wow. Very nicely done. I like to photoshop too, haha. But this ain't really a laughing matter. This portrays the real sadness of the city.
If you couldn't infer from my username, I'm from Tampa, born and raised, and I didn't know much of anything about Jax before here. Articles like these are very informative.

[David]

Someone please invent a time machine.

[stjr]

Congratulations on a great presentation.  It speaks volumes with pictures.  Having watched the Ken Burns series on the National Parks, it...

(1) shows how preservation efforts, seldom appreciated in the present, are almost always gratefully lauded by future generations and those whose short sightedness denied them the vision to fully appreciate the value of what we already have, and

(2) shows the power of pictures as many parks were saved and/or created by magnificent pictorials being sent to the desk of every Congressman, as few actually understood, having never visited, the value of the lands whose fate was in their hands.  Likewise, our local politicians seem to have little understanding and appreciation for that which they have failed to protect and maybe these pictures on their desks would raise their consciousness regarding such matters.  Please see that they are all so informed.  Thanks very much.

[deathstar]

Such a wonderful presentation, and for myself, much easier to see what Jacksonville was. If a time machine existed, I'd absolutely go back to 1901 just to see with my own eyes what it used to be

[choosing2disappear]

beautiful work (must have been difficult to find the same vantage point as in the old photographs). The Newsoms's building didn't look anything like that at the time of it's demo. It had been redone in a mid-century style, with no windows abve the ground floor. Even though the text on the photo isn't inverted, I remember it on the south east corner. Did it have two entrances?

[ac]

Such a wonderful presentation, and for myself, much easier to see what Jacksonville was. If a time machine existed, I'd absolutely go back to 1901 just to see with my own eyes what it used to be

Well...1901 may not be the best year to visit.  But I totally understand what you mean.

[buckethead]

Mtrain makes valdi points. The reason for the decay is plain and simple. I can even be brutally honest about it if i wanted. (e.g. white flight)

If no one is willing to use a structure, the structure will go unused. Amazing insight, I know. When a structure remains unused for a length of time it becomes a liability as opposed to an asset. At some point, it becomes wiser to divest ones liabilities. We often have lofty ideals, and find fault with people who do what they feel is in their own best interest.

To revitalize downtown Jax will take leadership, but more than that it will take money. Even beyond that it will require patronage. We do not have the luxury of an all or nothing mentality as it relates to historic preservation.

I believe we are about to turn the corner in that regard. Not long from now, the new structures our generation builds will become the old classic and hstorical structures being considered for demolition or preservation.

[thelakelander]

Any idea of why cities like Boston, San Francisco, St. Augustine, Charleston, New Orleans, Savannah, Washington, Philadelphia, (insert city here), etc. have been able to preserve buildings on a large scale and Jacksonville can't?  They have several structures that have been abandoned for years but they aren't seen as liabilities and don't come own the way they do here.  Do you think the quality of construction in those cities was superior to projects built in Jacksonville during similar eras?

[zoo]

I miss the vibrancy that signage can bring (in addition to people, of course). JaxPride and the anti-sign lobby have mis-applied their suburban-style signage ideas to Jacksonville's urban areas for far too long.

[buckethead]

Any idea of why cities like Boston, San Francisco, St. Augustine, Charleston, New Orleans, Savannah, Washington, Philadelphia, (insert city here), etc. have been able to preserve buildings on a large scale and Jacksonville can't?  They have several structures that have been abandoned for years but they aren't seen as liabilities and don't come own the way they do here.  Do you think the quality of construction in those cities was superior to projects built in Jacksonville during similar eras?

I would guess that each has a bit different story to tell regarding how they managed to retain a higher percentage of historic structures. Boston, Frisco, and Washington were all larger than Jax, and remained vibrant at a time when downtown Jax was being evacuated. Why, I don't know. I do know that a few buildings sitting idle for a few years is nothing like the abandonment of Jax. New Orleans is it's own story. Kept alive by music, food and alcoholism.

Savanah and Charleston are similar, and closer to what could have been here.

Please don't misunderstand, because I am completely on board with preserving the few gems we have left standing downtown. The photo essay was indeed beautiful and saddening. I would love to see revitalization built around the historic buildings still standing.

If it is to be sustained long term; businesses, residents, and consumers are going to need to be in the picture.

[stjr]

I can tell you that in Philly, the Society Hill restoration, dating to the late 1700's, early 1800's, was a near abandoned slum before it was restored.  South Beach in Miami was a dive in the 1960's.  Lots of historic areas were run down and abandoned before creative visionaries came along and saved them.

Jax's problem is we lack vision and visionaries - not to mention an appreciation for the finer things in life like history and great architecture.  We come across as the good ol' boy simpletons that maybe we really are.

[deathstar]

Well...1901 may not be the best year to visit.  But I totally understand what you mean.

To see Jacksonville before the fire? And to bring my Nikon D40 camera with me? Uh.. YEAH lol. Hell I'd even go back to when it was Cowford just to see the crossing in the river where the cows passed through. Anyone know exactly in what portion of the river, north, south, etc.. where that was?

[Ron Mexico]

what a great presentation!  such a shame...

[shanshan1218]

wow...i'm speechless at the moment....amazing work.