Lost Jacksonville: Sugar Hill
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From the late 1800s until the 1960s, Sugar Hill was the neighborhood where Jacksonville's most prominent African-Americans lived.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/1021
I appreciate this article a lot! I heard about Sugar Hill from a resident in the area (recycling bricks from one of the houses that was demolished in the area); I tried doing research and could only find a small article that the times union did a while back. This one definitely adds more depth. So thanks!
Great article Lake... :)
Fantastic article. A lot of great houses in those photos just waiting to be reborn. Now if we could just convince the black middle class that fled to the suburbs to return and rehabilitate the area like S-field. Imagine Sugar Hill brought back to the prominence it once held in the black community.
You must take the A Train
to get to Sugar Hill in Harlem......
Deuce, unfortunately, most residents were forced to leave because their homes and businesses were demolished for large projects. To convince the black middle class (or any racial middle class) to return, many of the things that caused its downfall will have to be revisited and corrected.
I wasn't so much thinking of the original residents as black folk in general that have fled for the south side and north side communities for the same reasons that whites fled the inner cities. I work with a number of these folks and their attitudes towards s-field and the environs doesn't differ from those of anyone else I've spoken to. It just goes to show that the narrow-minded views of the area that a lot of JAX residents hold cuts across all racial boundaries.
I think people would return if there was a reason to or a grand committed vision (better parks, neighborhood schools, transit options, employment opportunities, etc.) for that area. Its one of the areas that would benefit the most from the installation of a commuter rail system along the S-Line corridor. The hopes of revitalization are not totally lost, but so much damage has been done its going to take a huge effort from the city to turn the area around.
This is a great story I can still remember a lot of how this area was. I attended Isaish Blocker it was an elementary school at 13th and Davis. We played in all those listed areas because our classmates lived all around the area. I missed those days because we could walk anywhere we wanted as children. We were free to explore our true neighborhoods not anymore. What a shame.
I hate how African Americans were misplaced and pushed out my Grandmom and her family lived right where 95 took their home. She lived in a large two story house with all her family which include her mom,dad and sisters. When I hear others say not in my back yard I cringe wish they would have had a choice maybe the community wouldn't be so broken. v
Such upheavals of neighborhoods, repeatedly taking place over the last decades, have created much of today's wayward population. "Urban renewal," inconsistent zoning, and school busing (not that it wasn't well intended to right racial discrimination) have done much to rip away the stable and interconnected fabric that is necessary to ground our society. Now scatterred to the winds, people lack the attachment/roots that make them genuinely care about their neighbors, neighborhood, and community at large.
How many neighborhoods can we find that are virtually unchanged over the last 50 years? Wherever they may be, you will likely find some favorable attributes.
My Mom came and got me from my Grandmother in 1965 and moved me to Jacksonville. She lived at 817 West Duval Street about 3 houses from the corner of Duval and Davis; before that she lived at 826 West Adams Street (a vacant lot now sits there).
She rented a very nice, clean room out of one of the old two story houses that used to grace that area in Lavilla; understand, back then those houses were kept up pretty nice. There was a laundromat on that corner and an army/navy surplus store also. Ashley was a beehive of activity back then. I attended A. L. Lewis Elementary School which was to the west just past I-95; in fact, I could walk to School in less than 10 minutes from Duval and Davis where I lived. In the Lavilla Neighborhood you could always hear about 10 or 20 different types of music from juke boxes and African American nightclubs blaring from Ashley Street and also the numerous bars and holes in the wall on Davis Street.
I didn't know that that area North of Lavilla past State Street was know as "Sugar Hill." My Grandfather and his wife lived on 502 West 18th Street on the Corner of 18th and Boulevard, right in the heart of "Sugarville." That area was a very very nice African American Community and Neighborhood back then, and yes, many musicians, teachers, politicians, community activists, etc. lived in Sugar Hill...my Grandfather was a well respected plumber in the black community, Sugar Hill, Lavilla and Moncrief, for over 50+ years before his death in 2006; it's kind of run down in that area now and my Grandfather and his Wife are now dead and gone.
I grew up in Lavilla but we only lived there for about three years before moving to Fort Myers in 1967. Again, Davis Street was "popping" so to speak and was always a beehive of activity back then but Ashley Street was totally off the chain; I was only a child but my Mother allowed me to roam around and I remember how that area was "back in the day."
Beaver Street was also interesting. Now those areas, including Sugar Hill mostly resemble bombed out carcases of their former self. And it is a shame about the discrimination thing back then and on through the 70's and 80's, forcing those people out of their homes and their neighborhoods; and now we're scrambling to try and find our identity.......I wonder why?
Heights Unknown ???
Hopefully when the economy turns around and Shands survives, it can pump some life imto a forgotten neighborhood.
I really like that Yellow building pictured. I'd love to check that thing out inside. Great snaps!
Great article and pictures, as usual. It's a shame that today's rules for buying land for big projects weren't in place back in the 1950s when the old Expressway Authority built the expressway system (that became I-95 later).
One quibble, this
QuoteCompleted in 1929, the Ritz Theatre is one of a few structures still standing from what was known as the "Harlem of the South." Today, this is the location of the LaVilla Museum and a 400-seat theatre.
I was under the impression that the old Ritz was in such bad shape it was demolished - demolition by neglect, a Jax standard - and a new building was built that looked like the old one. Even the Ritz sign, as I understand it, is new.
The only historic element left of the Ritz is the corner the sign hangs on. Everything else is new.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/483231949_3atBM-M.jpg)
QuoteThe only historic element left of the Ritz is the corner the sign hangs on. Everything else is new.
And when the City says corner, they mean it. It's a teeny weeny corner at that! Lake was being kind. It's, more bluntly said, a new building with an old sign. Not what I would call true historic preservation. But, hey, it is Jax style :)
I do think the Ritz Theater's management has done a good job of turning it into a great city asset. Maybe it, and the original's history, will be a feature in itself on MJ one day. Was this a haunt of Ray Charles in his day? Where did he play and where did he live while in Jax? How about some historic markers and marketing of that fact?
The Ritz is one the list this year along with a lot of other places and neighborhoods in the urban core. From what I understand, the Ritz was not the main theatre in that area during its heyday. I believe it was the Strand, which was on Ashley Street. The building where Ray Charles hung out is still "kinda" standing. Its the building shell on the corner of Jefferson and Ashley Streets.
QuoteThe building where Ray Charles hung out is still "kinda" standing. Its the building shell on the corner of Jefferson and Ashley Streets.
Maybe MetroJax could lead a drive for an historic marker and some event marketed around this history. It would be a great tag line or hook for promoting the downtown area. If you ever saw the movie, "Ray", you would have to be impressed by his standing in the world of music greats. Having roots here could be capitalized on like Baltimore and Edgar Allan Poe - or our version of "George Washington Slept Here". ;D
Interesting Streetcar traces in two of these photos. The photo which says "Davis Street in the 1940's" clearly shows the diamond (crossing) of one line over another. It also proved once and for all that the company DID NOT remove all the track as read in the city streetcar charter agreement.
The second shows a brick 8Th Street at the "S" line crossing. Interesting because the streetcar crossed the Seaboard Railroad at this spot. But the photo clearly shows that the streetcar track wasn't in the street. Those bricks looks like the've been around for a long - long time. What I believe you may have stumbled upon is a rare shot of shortly after the car tracks were lifted from the RIGHT SIDE of the road. Typical Jacksonville Traction off the street running. You might recall the track that ends at Talleyrand was "side of the road" also the track in my photograph of the Kings Road Car Line clearly shows double track and NO SIGN of a road. I suspose the photographer was standing on the pavement when he took the streetcar photo.
Shame that the Laura Street - Monroe - Hogan corridors downtown don't have a few dozen RITZ THEATER type signs.
OCKLAWAHA
It chills me to the bone to see what they did to this neighborhood for the sake of I-95. I was born and raised in The Bronx, whole sections of which were ruthlessly gutted to lay highway miles with the express and callous intent of making it easier for suburbanites to get from their white-flight enclaves on Long Island and in Westchester to “The City†(i.e., the borough of Manhattan which, in reality, is only 1/5th of “The Cityâ€). This is Robert Moses social engineering by urban planning at its despicable best. To the day she died, my very proper, “lace-curtain Irish†grandmother would turn her head a spit if his name was ever mentioned in her presence. And he did this all over New York, to the lower part of Manhattan, to Brooklyn, and to the working class sections of Queens; it was unbelievable. If they had kept only a fraction of the housing stock they lost as a result of this rampage, New York would be a much different and more affordable place to live in today. This is like an open wound that need to be healed.
We'll there's always the secondary effect of clearing out the slums...that is what I always heard what happened. That area was really bad...they just sort of cleaned it out, not unlike what they did downtown.
Quote from: gatorback on March 03, 2009, 08:53:24 PM
We'll there's always the secondary effect of clearing out the slums...that is what I always heard what happened. That area was really bad...they just sort of cleaned it out, not unlike what they did downtown.
Well maybe so, not that familiar with that area at that time. Not sure that the folks that were displaced would have agreed. Sounds like the Lavilla cleansing. Or going even further back, blacks point being offered up by the government for NAS jax. The government is always going to go through the path of least resistance and back then it was primarily through minority, african american, communities. As far as cleaning it out, if you mean building an elevated 4 lane highway, I guess that qualifies.
Yeah, they surely cleaned it up... :-[
From stuff like this:
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to this:
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I found a few images of Sugar Hill's original Brewster Hospital being demolished in my archives. They were taken on May 28, 2005. This is the site of the proposed VA clinic. Its too bad the old historic structure could not have been saved and incorporated into the clinic's plans.
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(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/484847076_YXu5P-M.jpg)
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Quote from: civil42806 on March 03, 2009, 10:31:51 PM
Quote from: gatorback on March 03, 2009, 08:53:24 PM
We'll there's always the secondary effect of clearing out the slums...that is what I always heard what happened. That area was really bad...they just sort of cleaned it out, not unlike what they did downtown.
Well maybe so, not that familiar with that area at that time. Not sure that the folks that were displaced would have agreed. Sounds like the Lavilla cleansing. Or going even further back, blacks point being offered up by the government for NAS jax. The government is always going to go through the path of least resistance and back then it was primarily through minority, African American, communities. As far as cleaning it out, if you mean building an elevated 4 lane highway, I guess that qualifies.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CampJohnstonHostessHouse.jpg)
Camp Joseph E. Johnston, about 1916 (yes LAKE/LUNICAN I DO have enough info and photos for an article)
Civil, the land at "BLACKS POINT" wasn't "black" per se. I'm from Ortega, and my fathers best friend (born about 1905) was from Blacks Point and was quite a wealthy white man - though he was a self-made business man. The little Baptist Church at the Blacks Point community served the troops at the tiny Florida National Guard post called Camp Joseph E. Johnston (CSA General - Army of Tennessee) Both the camp and the community coexisted. Radical expansion during WWI brought about the land purchase in what is "MAINSIDE" at the NAS JAX base today, but it was still incomplete and all Florida Guard with Army Units in training. After the war, the War Department (today's Dept of Defense) greatly expanded the boundary's and changed the name to CAMP FOSTER - US ARMY. The little white frame church was moved from Blacks Point about 1.2 miles west into Dewey Park - AKA YUKON, FLORIDA. (The church still stands in this ghost town just off the end of the runway at NAS and Roosevelt, and across the tracks, go ONE BLOCK on the left... BTW the seafood place is GREAT). When WWII broke out the Navy had a huge plot of land that made up the Western and Southwestern half of Clay County. They didn't want to be landlocked and the State didn't want to see so much land eaten up for post war planning purposes. A deal was worked out where the camp was swapped. The ARMY took CAMP BLANDING and the NAVY got Camp Foster which today is NAS JAX. NAS JAX became a master base, O&R center for the Naval Aviation Wings and Aviation Tech School, something that continues to expand today. The Army cut a 3 way deal at Blanding with the State and Navy, they took the South and Southwest half of the property and developed a jungle or forrest warfare school, tank and gun range, aerial bomb range, Special forces school, POW CAMP (Germans - Italians) and a complete railroad system. The State got the Northern half of the base land for the State Forrest. After the war the Army pulled the plug and left this giant base to the Florida National Guard once again... But as of the last 20 years, Camp Blanding has roared back to life and is now a class 2? full military base with active duty Army units there almost all the time. This includes goodies like a nice PX, recreation facilities etc. The tiny black community where many of my childhood friends lived was between Ortega Hills and Yukon just to the south of the new office/warehouse park that is being developed across from the main gate of NAS. At one time 1950-60 there was even a village store out there where we used to buy cola's. Today the dirt roads are blocked and I suppose most of the black community no longer exists, sad as there is also a good size cemetery hidden in those woods.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CampFosterNASJAX-1.jpg)
Camp Foster at Blacks Point, shows many more trees cleared and many new quickie buildings.
The weirdest thing about cleaning up the neighborhood came from Starke, where the Camp Blanding Soldiers would take leave, liberty or spend a lazy day of R&R. The Black community of Starke was between the base and the town proper. The POW trustee's, that is to say NAZI SS OFFICERS, GESTAPO, VERMACHT, LUFTWAFFEN etc... who minded their manners could earn a pass to the local dance halls, bars or theaters. The American born African American CITIZENS were not allowed in those businesses... HOW IS THAT FOR CLEANSING? OCKLAWAHA
"The Ancient One..."
Oh, so this wasn't one of those projects.
Quote
The shift of population to the suburbs had begun taking its toll on cities. The automobile had made possible "the outward transfer of the homes of citizens with adequate income from the inner city to the suburbs," with narrow city roads used to convey "these citizens daily back and forth to their city offices and places of business."
"The former homes of the transferred population have descended by stages to lower and lower income groups, and some of them ... have now run the entire gamut. Almost untenable, occupied by the humblest citizens, they fringe the business district and form the city's slums -- a blight near its very core!" wrote Fairbank.
The once proud tenements were in collapse, were taken over by the cities for unpaid taxes, and were sometimes replaced by parking lots. "And now, the Federal Government is beginning to acquire them in batches in connection with its slum-clearance projects."
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/septoct00/urban.htm
There were three theatres in the Lavilla/Sugar Hill area back then; the Ritz, the Strand, and the Roosevelt. The Roosevelt was in the 800 block of Ashley two blocks north of where my Mom and I lived in the 800 block of Duval. The strand was further east on Ashley closer to downtown. The Strand was known for its extremely salty popcorn. The Roosevelt used to give out prizes from bottle tops and it cost a quarter to get in back in the mid 60's. :)
The other theatre was the center Theater downtown where blacks would go, but whites went there also; the blacks would sit in the upper section, and the whites in the lower section. :-[
Heights Unknown ;)
I was born in the old Brewster Hospital near Jefferson Street. Don't remember anything about it though; but I know on my birth certificate it has Brewster Methodist Hospital.
Heights Unknown
When I first reading this I kept thinking "sugarhill?" "what is that" then the all too familiar words popped up....BLODGETT PROJECTS!!! I remember the old ones vividly!!! Now that was a rough neighbor. I remember my mom sending me and my lil brother to spend the night with some kids that went to church with us....and these 2 women were fighting in the apartment street. One stabbed the other pretty badly. My mom came and got us that morning like 4 am. That was one of my first memories of seeing people behave in such a wild way. It had to be 87, 88. Blodgett Projects and Gregory West on Gregory Drive were some of the worst places in Jacksonville. The city tears them down and they just go an create another bad area like Cleveland Arms and Eureaka Gardens. A lot of people in on the Westside lost their homes to the completion of I10 & I295 just like what happened in this Sugarhill area. Hell you can go in Riverside and see streets that are divided due to the expressway. Makes me wonder if anyone lost their home when the Buckmen was being built.
Has been nice to follow the posts here on various planning and architectural historical narratives in Jax - thanks! Just a few historical and land use comments...
The Tennis Courts at Emmett Reed have been built (it seems) on one of the 3 EPA designated "Jax Ash Sites" - solid waste incinerators and dumps that operated between the turn of the century and the 1940s, this one known as the 5th and Cleveland Incinerator Site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/grifray/384912673/in/set-72157594208185618/). It's only one of at least 8 such sites within the general area. So when we talk about something being "lost" in Jax, especially when it concerns this specific geography, it's always good to keep in mind that this area was already considered expendable.
Also, the (now) Guinyard Pool has been described, at least by one historian (http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=9060), as a "reward" for the area for its residents not electing Wilson Armstrong, a black union carpenter who was red-baited and denigrated as an uneducated working man, in 1947. Claude Smith was elected instead, the guy who would later be convicted of accepting bribes in 1966.
Able Bartley's book "Keeping the Faith" (second link above is to a review of this book) and Paul Ortiz's "Emancipation Betrayed" are good historical accounts of Jax and race relations, which has played no small part in how the city is shaped.
@Coolyfett: I feel you! Unfortunately I'm from the Blodgett Home, 730 Court H! It was very rough growing up out there. Growing up around hustlers, pimps, and gangsters was all me and my siblings saw! Like said, then we moved to the westside to "The Darkcyde" also known as Gregory Drive. I wasn't fortunate enough stay out of trouble. I was certified as an adult at 15, and sentenced to 18 years in prison for murder. I rehabilitated myself to do better. I was released in 1995, everything was still the same. I move to Atlanta 3 months later, went to college, and now I advise felons on how to uplift themselves. I own four paint and body shops. I'm about to open some in my hometown to help stop the cycle of destruction with our youth. And help anyone who chooses to take care of their families LEGALLY! I teach my sons about where I come from, so they'll know why I'm so tough on them. I have 3 nephews doing 30 years to life for drugs and murders. I'm the pillar of my family. Now I'm back, and we all can change this city the right way!
Quote from: Coolyfett on March 05, 2009, 10:38:46 PM
When I first reading this I kept thinking "sugarhill?" "what is that" then the all too familiar words popped up....BLODGETT PROJECTS!!! I remember the old ones vividly!!! Now that was a rough neighbor. I remember my mom sending me and my lil brother to spend the night with some kids that went to church with us....and these 2 women were fighting in the apartment street. One stabbed the other pretty badly. My mom came and got us that morning like 4 am. That was one of my first memories of seeing people behave in such a wild way. It had to be 87, 88. Blodgett Projects and Gregory West on Gregory Drive were some of the worst places in Jacksonville. The city tears them down and they just go an create another bad area like Cleveland Arms and Eureaka Gardens. A lot of people in on the Westside lost their homes to the completion of I10 & I295 just like what happened in this Sugarhill area. Hell you can go in Riverside and see streets that are divided due to the expressway. Makes me wonder if anyone lost their home when the Buckmen was being built.
That is a good question that you ask about Interstates 10 and 295. I grew up in Orange Park and wondered what, if any, disruption was caused by the construction of those highways? Does anybody have an answer?
It wasn't just I-95 that swiped out a lot of Sugar Hill. It was also Methodist Hospital and what use to be Duval Medical Center, presently Shands Jacksonville. It was eminent domain.
Looking at our photos I'm thinking photos 1 - 11 - 23 (from the top) are not of Davis Street, but some other area road and mislabeled. If you check the 1940's era photo 5, one can clearly see asphalt on Davis AND streetcar tracks. It would seem the crossover in photo 5 demonstrates that the Davis car line extended north of Kings... Which leaves me with a WHERE-T-F?
OCKLAWAHA
Ock, before the construction of I-95, Moncrief met Davis at 8th Street. If the streetcar line ran up Davis to Moncrief, then image 23 would have been north of that area.
Quote from: Jaxson on July 26, 2010, 06:42:21 PM
That is a good question that you ask about Interstates 10 and 295. I grew up in Orange Park and wondered what, if any, disruption was caused by the construction of those highways? Does anybody have an answer?
If you look at a map of the western landing of the buckman you can see the divided streets where the road cut through. Certainly someone lost a house in it's construction. You can also see "Old Orange Park Rd" and follow the path where US17 used to go right up through what is now the weapons storage area of NAS Jax.
The Ritz was built as a Movie Theatre and run by absentee owners, it was not a place of theatrical performances. Sugar Hill began past Blodgett on Davis, west of Springfield Park and was split down the middle by I-95. It was a middle class area for African Americans. Ray Charles, contrary to popular myth, did not spend too much time in Jacksonville, He went to Seattle as fast as he could after graduating from the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind. What remained of Sugar Hill was demolished in the late 60s and early 70s and the residents were relocated. Brewster, the African American Hospital was morphed into Methodist Hospital, which eventually went away and its facilities became part of University Hospital as did part of Old St. Lukes. Springfiled Park was the demarcation line between White Springfield and African American Sugar Hill. The demise of Springfield began in the 30s when city zoning was changed to allow businesses on every street intersection in Springfield. There have been groups working to bring Springfiled back since the early 70's, it is not a recent effort.
HisBuffPVB, welcome to MJ and Stephen Dare ;). Stephen has strong opinions, especially about the tectonic social plate movements of our society, and is quick to exercise his "authority" as do many others here (myself excluded, of course ;D). Don't take his or anyone else's posts here too hard. We have all been, at one time or another, subjected to such frequent "forwardness". Feel free to return some of that forwardness back to sender. I found your post most interesting regardless of the position staked out. Better to have these discussions than not at all. I look forward to your posts going forward. Sorry your first post had to run into a buzz saw so soon.
I just ran across this image on the state's historic archive site. I believe this is the old Brewster hospital on Jefferson Street that was torn down a few years ago. This will be the site of the new VA Clinic.
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/spottswood/sp00117.jpg)
Quote from: thelakelander on August 02, 2010, 12:48:15 AM
Ock, before the construction of I-95, Moncrief met Davis at 8th Street. If the streetcar line ran up Davis to Moncrief, then image 23 would have been north of that area.
That's where she went. Up Davis to Moncrief to 13th to Myrtle and back down to Kings. There was also an extension beyond which went form Myrtle to 21st to to Wilschen(?) down to 20th and back to Myrtle to return. OCKLAWAHA
Quote from: thelakelander on February 16, 2011, 11:00:34 PM
I just ran across this image on the state's historic archive site. I believe this is the old Brewster hospital on Jefferson Street that was torn down a few years ago. This will be the site of the new VA Clinic.
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/spottswood/sp00117.jpg)
Yes, that's Brewster Hospital. I accompanied my father there on a number of occasions and saw my first surgery there as a kid; reduction and plating of a compound humeral fracture.
I very much enjoyed the Sugar Hill article. It brought back a lot of my child memories. I grew up in the area. I graduated from Davis Street Junior High School in 1950. Later it was changed to Isiach Blocker. I was at the Blodgett Homes Swimming Pool the fist night it opened. When I returned home from a tour in the Army, the school was torn down. At that time we could walk around at night, and go anywhere we wanted to go, and no one would bother you. There were no Gangs, and all the Pimps stayed on Ashley Street. I also lived for a while in the Blodgett Homes on Court I. I don't remember the apartment number. I can remember all of those homes on Davis Street, and 8Th Street. The second picture of Davis Street in the 1940's is actually on the corner of Kings Road, and Davis Street. Dr. Childs an African American physician had an office in that building. The other picture is down Davis, going towards 4Th and Davis. I grew up in Jacksonville before the Express Way (I-95) was came through that area around 8Th St. & Davis st. The original Ritz Theater was actually on the corner of State Street, and Davis Street. It has been wonderful seeing that area again after all of these years. It was a life time ago for me.
Thanks for sharing your recollections, Chas. Do you have any pictures we haven't seen?
I will look through my photoes. I think I have a few
How will I get the Photoes to you, and they will have images of my class mates and friends on them . That may be a problem.
I'll pm you
If you scroll down from the top to the 23 picture where Davis street cross the S-Line tracks (Seaboard Railroad) and look to the rear of the two story white house on the right side, you will see a two story brick building with a tall smoke stack (chimney). That building is the south side of Davis Street Junior High School. Later Isiach Blocker. I graduated from the school in the class of 1950. That is my old neighborhood. As Davis Street cross the Seaboard Railroad tracks, on the left side, 13Th street will end, or begin according to how you want to look at it. The sand on the right side was there, it was the sidewalk.
This really brough back so many memories. I lived in the Blodgette Home from 1952 until 1965 (1st grade thru 12th). It was a great place to live and play. People took pride in their homes. Our yard (though tiny compared to todays standards) was very neat and well manicured. I played softball in the 60's. We could beat every team except Simon Johnson (I want a rematch). Those girls were tuff! I would swim almost every day during the summer at the pool. I learned a lot about God, family, friendship, honesty and being the best that you can be. I attended Elder Shermans church on 4th street. I reminder Daylight Grocery, Bottom Dollar, Louis Ritz, Joe Ritz (not sure of spelling) Al's sundries on 3rd and Davis, Tip Top, and many more. I feel blessed to have lived there!
Welcome Betty! We would love to hear more!
Great article. My grandparents moved from Yukon, Florida and lived on Davis (next to Huff Funeral Home) before moving to 1410 Louisiana Street. My parents were born in the old Brewster Hospital. I edited a pictorial history of Black Life in Jacksonville in 1996 with Arcadia Press. Book has been out of print for years. Ocasionally you can find a copy on Amazon.
Quote from: Casterlow on May 10, 2012, 10:13:47 PM
Great article. My grandparents moved from Yukon, Florida and lived on Davis (next to Huff Funeral Home) before moving to 1410 Louisiana Street. My parents were born in the old Brewster Hospital. I edited a pictorial history of Black Life in Jacksonville in 1996 with Arcadia Press. Book has been out of print for years. Ocasionally you can find a copy on Amazon.
Is this the book? Cool pix in the link...
http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Life-Jacksonville-Black-America/dp/0752408836#reader_0752408836
There certainly were performances at the Ritz and it was the "main venue of African-American performance in Lavilla" after it was built in 1929, according to Peter Dunbaugh Smith's excellent thesis paper on LaVilla. It's true Ray Charles didn't spend much time in Jacksonville, however he did live here in 1945-46 and it's where he got his start as a professional musician. At the age of 15, he joined the local black musicians' union in the Clara White Mission, which he called the start of his professional career. He may even have played at the Ritz, though once he was established his top gig was at the Two Spot on Moncrief. The Ritz owners weren't absentees, and were heavily involved in the local music scene in the theater's heyday. The Ritz suffered as the neighborhood deteriorated in the 50s and 60s, until the owner, Joe Hackel, finally shut it down.
Still no one has been able to locate 'Masons Park' or 'Roosevelt Park,' as it was later called. I suspect the area of Kings and Myrtle but so far no cigar. This was the site of the North Jacksonville Street Railway Town and Improvement Company's car barn and also a amusement or 'trolley park.'
What were its years of operation? Let me know and I'll see what I can dig up from that era's Sanborn maps.