Jacksonville has many connections to aviation history including visits by Charles Lindbergh, being the birthplace of the Blue Angels, and where African American aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman perished.
But often overlooked is that Jacksonville was the headquarters for National Airlines from 1939 to 1946, before it moved to Miami (which also ultimately became the HQ's of Eastern Airlines. More trivia: Eastern was owned by General Motors for several years in the 1930's.).
Before then, National began flying from Imeson Airport on November 19, 1934, the same year the airline was founded in. Ultimately, Pan Am bought National in 1980 in a failed attempt to build a domestic network to complement its international network. Pan Am, itself, went under in 1991 (the same year Eastern was liquidated).
Imagine if National had stayed in Jax and thrived, what it might have done to change Jax history (see what Delta did for Atlanta). Maybe we wouldn't still be looking for flights to London and L.A. 8).
From Wikipedia:
Quote1930s
National Airlines was founded by George T. Baker (1899–1963) in 1934. Its headquarters were in St. Petersburg, Florida and it was based at the city's Albert Whitted Airport.[6] On October 15 of that year, revenue flights were launched, transporting passengers and mail from St. Petersburg to a few destinations within Florida using a fleet of two Ryan ST monoplanes.[6][7] In 1935, the Stinson Trimotor was introduced with National Airlines,[8] which were soon replaced by the Lockheed Model 10 Electra.[9] In 1939, the company headquarters were moved to Jacksonville.[6] By the end of the decade, the National Airlines network spanned from Miami to New Orleans,[10] on what it called the Buccaneer Route.[5]
1940s
Revenue passenger miles for years ending June 30:[11]
1936: 249,799
1938: 653,688
1939: 1,340,050
1940: 3,465,316
1941: 7,264,322
1946: 108,760,267
In 1940 the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar became the backbone of National's fleet.[12] National was awarded rights from Florida to New York City and other cities along the East Coast in 1944, with flights starting in 1945.[13] In 1946 National got approval to fly to Havana, Cuba, which coincided with the introduction of the Douglas DC-4.[6] The DC-4 allowed non-stop flights between Miami and New York[14] that started on February 14, 1946. Later that year National relocated its headquarters to Miami International Airport; a maintenance base opened at Miami in 1950.[6][15]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Airlines_(1934%E2%80%931980)
(https://www.yesterdaysairlines.com/uploads/4/2/5/5/42559615/na-liveries_orig.png)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Douglas_DC-8-32_N7183C_NAL_LAX_06.02.71_edited-3.jpg/330px-Douglas_DC-8-32_N7183C_NAL_LAX_06.02.71_edited-3.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/National_Airlines_747_%286153752723%29.jpg/330px-National_Airlines_747_%286153752723%29.jpg)