Ghost of Jacksonville: Davis Street
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/2891248485_qfqgWbq-M.jpg)
Metro Jacksonville's Ennis Davis exposes a major early 20th century African-American urban thoroughfare that no longer exists.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-nov-ghost-of-jacksonville-davis-street
Thanks. Are you planning on showing the MLK parkway that is now under construction and some before and after pics? Talk about a loss of building stock.
Thank you. I love reading about Jax history, especially from around the turn of the century. I wish I could have seen it then.
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
That was excellent, thank you for the research. I am a native, and I hung on every word of description and studied every picture. Are we (Jacksonville) alone , or in the minority, in the fact that we destroyed many of what would be historical, keepsake buildings? Wasn't this the norm for most cities until recently?
I know I have been educated and have recently come to realize you don't tear anything down, you always find a re-use. Either restore it or mothball it for someone who can at some time bring life back to it.
Thanks again for the post.
Great article Ennis!
What could have been
Quote from: Noone on November 13, 2013, 04:09:12 AM
Thanks. Are you planning on showing the MLK parkway that is now under construction and some before and after pics? Talk about a loss of building stock.
Other than Sanborn maps, I don't have access to many before pictures. Most of the homes and businesses that used to be there were taken out in the 1960s for the original 20th Street/Haines Street Expressway. Kooker Park used to be a neighborhood park with housing surrounding it. Now it sits in the middle of an expressway interchange. The neighborhoods surrounding that interchange have been just as negatively impacted as those along Davis Street. Btw, you can see the original destruction in the same 1960s aerial used in this article about Davis Street:
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/History/Davis-Street-Florida-State/i-RZ5GZFW/0/XL/MLK%20Expressway%20-%201960s-XL.jpg)
Quote from: IrvAdams on November 13, 2013, 01:18:05 PM
That was excellent, thank you for the research. I am a native, and I hung on every word of description and studied every picture. Are we (Jacksonville) alone , or in the minority, in the fact that we destroyed many of what would be historical, keepsake buildings? Wasn't this the norm for most cities until recently?
Jax wasn't alone. The majority of cities eliminated minority districts like this in the mid-20th century under the guise of erasing "blight". Following principles endorsed by Robert Moses, highways and other infrastructure projects were used to divide neighborhoods along racial lines and eliminate places of weak political influence. Just in Florida alone, highways took out chunks of similar districts like Overtown (Miami), Central Avenue (Tampa) and Parramore (Orlando).
Where I do find Jax unique is that most cities moved away from this type of stuff in the later half of the 20th century. Jax has not. I believe the majority of LaVilla was taken out as late as the mid-to-late 1990s.
Probably in the top 5 of all time MJ articles. Lake is my hero.
In 1977 there was a large exposition of model railroads in one of the old Railroad Row buildings. All I remember is it was near the pedestrian overpass, shown on the Sanborn Map. My cousin & I went there on my birthday that year. I was only 11, but I still remember how cool all those buildings looked.
Sorry about the typos. It was pretty early this morning when I was still adding text and imagery, so it didn't make it to our editors. I've gone back in an fixed what I could find. Anyway, now that we have a few interns helping with the back end operation of the site, I can now spend a little more time putting together in-depth articles like this for all areas of the city and county. I'm looking forward to it.
I know more about the history of Jacksonville in the 5 or so years I've been here than I ever heard of in my 31 years here on earth. Thanks, lake, these are the type of articles that I truly enjoy!
Quote from: thelakelander on November 13, 2013, 08:24:18 PM
Where I do find Jax unique is that most cities moved away from this type of stuff in the later half of the 20th century. Jax has not. I believe the majority of LaVilla was taken out as late as the mid-to-late 1990s.
Quite right, Lake. The mass demolition process began during the Austin administration.
If you look at pictures of the area in Old Hickory's Town (1982) you can see how much more of LaVilla was intact then.
Every time I read one of these excellent articles about lost history, what could have been, I find myself both fascinated about what we had and equally infuriated about what has been lost.
great article and images Lake!
Your images of the past mixed with the present have an artistically haunting appeal to them. I could see them as a permanent display for a LaVilla Museum, a museum somewhere around Genover's Hall. Maybe someday when our city wakes up and takes responsibility for its careless destructiveness that might happen. Anyways, great article I enjoyed it very much.
Thanks. Since Metro Jacksonville has the rights to a decent sized collection of historical imagery, I plan to do more in the future. Right now, I'm working on creating a list of lost districts. However, it's also something I can do for areas where historic buildings still stand.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 15, 2013, 08:22:45 AM
Thanks. Since Metro Jacksonville has the rights to a decent sized collection of historical imagery, I plan to do more in the future. Right now, I'm working on creating a list of lost districts. However, it's also something I can do for areas where historic buildings still stand.
good project Ennis.
Fantastic imagery! It's just heartbreaking to see what's happened to Jacksonville.
I think about the scene in The Three Faces of Eve where Joanne Woodward gets excited about going dancing in Jacksonville. The Big City long gone, indeed.
Excellent article. I enjoyed the pictures. I don't know if any of my school mates are still around, but I played on, and walked the streets around Davis street before it was demolished. I also attended Darnell-Cookman Elementry School when it was on 7Th and Davis. They moved us to public school #135 on the corner of 15Th and Davis. At the time everyone called it Davis Street Junior High School, although it had grades 1-9. I graduated from Davis Street in 1950. They changed the name to Isaiah Blocker. Our prom was held at the recreation center in Wilder's Park. I am surprised to see my old high school "STANTON" still standing on Ashley Street. I have retired, and relocated back to my home town. As I previously stated. I am surprised to see so much of the neighborhood that I grew up in have been destroyed. This was a very good article. The pictures are worth a thousand words.
From 1965 to 1968, I lived on Duval Street one block from Davis at 817 West Duval. Walk out of the house, go right a half a block, and there is the intersection of Duval and Davis. There is an empty lot there now, but we lived in a two story, wooden, rental/boarding house, however, back then those houses were in pretty pristine condition. My Mother and I lived in one of the rooms which was beautifully wallpapered, had linoleum covered floors, and had one bath on the first floor and the second floor for all of the tenants except for the "Rent Lady" (Property Manager or Landlord) in which she had her own bathroom, bedroom, and living room...no kitchen or dining area...but she had a very large space which was in super condition. Davis Street in the 1960's, near the area where I lived, was filled with small bars, taverns, restaurant, clothing stores, food and beverage stores, all of course to serve the African American Community in the LaVilla area. The Roosevelt Theater (on Ashley Street), and the Ritz Theater (further down on Union or State I can't remember) were within walking distance of our house and Davis Street was one block from the Roosevelt (west), and the Ritz was right on the corner of Davis and Union (or State). LaVilla, and especially Davis Street and Ashely Street were cauldrons of activity, music, people hanging out, and you could hear all different types of 60's soul music blaring out of the bars and taverns on Davis, Ashley, and other areas of LaVilla. My Mother always made me stay in the house after dark; especially when she sent me down to the Roosevelt Grill one night (a soul fast food restaurant which was attached to the Roosevelt Theater), and a young boy robbed me of the money she had gave me. I can still smell the smells, hear the music, and see shoulder deep people walking along Davis Street back in those days. My what memories!
I always enjoy reading your writings on the history of black Jacksonville. Especially the history of the LaVilla area where I grew up. I was born there in 1955 and lived there until 1980. I reside in Virginia just outside of Washington, DC. I am currently working in Saudi Arabia. Being so far away from home I find myself reminiscing about home, family, friends, and places in the LaVilla area. Your writings and pictures make the memories so vivid. Thanks for chronicling black Jacksonville and all of Jacksonville's history.
Does anyone have a picture of Davis Street School c. 1951..? I lived with my grandmother, Ina Ruth Lawrence, on Davis St. in the early 1950s. I started school at Davis St., and my grandmother was the librarian there. After school was over, my brother and I used to sit in the library looking through the books and magazines until she was finished working. We moved to the South Side on Freeman Road, and I went to Douglas Anderson. My father moved to Los Angeles when I was in the 7th grade, and I have only been back to Jacksonville once since then. I now live in New Jersey and teach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Jacksonville is a core component of my personal history...
Ennis the effect you used for these pics is awesome!
I sooo love the history of Jacksonville. It was (can be) an awesome place.
Thank you, Carolyn!
I love picking the brains of elderly customers about what Jacksonville was like back in their heyday. Hearing about what a lively place Downtown was and matching their stories to what I've seen here, all I can do is imagine. I've often thought about what fun it could have been to go see a show in one of the many theaters that occupied all of the empty lots or abandoned buildings we see today. All we're left with is what once was and scratching our noggins as to "what the hell were they thinking?"
Also, this is for Lake, Stephen & OCK, everytime I go on a bike ride through Avondale/Riverside and pass Aberdeen, one of few streets still left with the bricks I wonder if even half of the residents living there today know just what they're there for?