Please help us create a timeline for the shops, places and things that helped create San Marco over the decades!
70s
Pic N Save
Atomic Cleaners
The Phoenix.
AppleJacks Barbeque
80s.
Pic N Save.
Dress Up!
Lee Allen.
White's Bookstore.
Mimi's
The San Marco Bookshop.
Atomic Cleaners
Pic N Save
The Grotto (back in the witchcraft supplies, tea and spices days)
Cafe on the Square
The Original Loop
Peterson's Five and Dime
Cafe Carmon
The San Marco Theater
Peterbrookes
Baron Gas Station
Apple Jacks
Bad Boy Club
Theater Jacksonville
Ward's Room
Big Jim Tires
90s
White's Bookstore.
Mimi's
The San Marco Bookshop.
Atomic Cleaners
The Grotto (When "C" moved it and turned it into an uppity coffee shop)
Cafe on the Square
The Original Loop
Peterson's Five and Dime
Cafe Carmon
The San Marco Theater
Peterbrooke's
Theater Jacksonville
Ward's Room
Krista Eberle
2000s
Sushi Rock Cafe
The san marco Deli
Pizza Palace
Square One
Cafe Carmon
Bistro Aix
Diamond Dolls
Corner Brasserie
La Nopalera
Underwoods Jewelers
Theater Jacksonville
San Marco Theater
Ward Room
Krista Eberle
San Marco Gym
Moe's
The Grotto (snobby winebar incarnation)
San Marco Bookshop
Uncommon Grounds
Tavern on the Square
Subway Sandwiches
Jackrabbit's
Please add to this list, and Im sure there are people who remember way further back than I do.
European st.
Laylas
Sherwoods
Endo Exo
Local’s
BBs
The record store that used to be next to Jack Rabbits.
Sorry, not sure of the year on some of these
San Marco Square: 60's and early 70's (as I recall it):
On Bank of America site :
Duck pin bowling alley (small pins and bowling ball, a lot harder than today's bowling!)
A & P Grocery Store
Coley Walkers Drug Store
Wilson's (?) Office Supply (?)
Balis Park:
Gulf Gas Station
Southside of Square:
Arcade Men's Store
Utseys and/or Buster Brown Shoes
Petersons 5 & 10
Setzers Food Store (became Pic N Save)
The Town Pump (recently Cafe on the Square)
Bowlins (sp?) Womens Store (next to Underwoods)
Little Theater/ Theater Jacksonville (I believe the oldest community theater in the United States!)
San Marco Theater
Whites Bookstore/Duval News
Future Site of Publix and Condos:
American National Bank
La Mae Florist
Uible Orthodontist (successor practice across street from Hendricks Avenue Elementary)
Northside:
Stand n' Snack Sandwich Shop (free delicious whole pickles on the counters - all you could eat)
Site of Stellers Gallery:
Geisenholfs (sp?) Gift Store
Herman Jackson's Atomic Cleaners
Site of Firehouse Subs:
Goodyear or Firestone Tire Store
Fire Station (we went to on school field trips. Loved watching them demonstrate that fire pole!)
There may have been an Abe Livert's Record Store at one time there. Whites Bookstore had a long presence. Peterson's sold artificial flowers upstairs (now Jaycox-Reinel Architects, et. al. offices). I think Boyer and Boyer architects was there for a while also.
Other Area Locations in the 60's and 70's:
Site of European Street:
Worman's - San Marco
On King's Road, site of PRI Productions:
Skateland, followed by Brandons Camera Store (which was originally on the Southbank)
Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute:
Originally, Barnett-Winston REIT HQ's, then the Duval County School Board (before present location)
Aetna Building:
Originally, Prudential Insurance Co.southeastern U.S. HQ's (with the State Bank on the ground floor and the River Club on the top floor until Independent Life/Modis was built)
Riverplace Tower:
Originally, Gulf Life Tower and before that, Jacksonville Shipyards, Southside facilities.
New Acosta Bridge, Southbank:
Diamond Head Discotheque
Current Prudential Building:
Travel Lodge
Go to the MJ History Forums and you will find several threads where I have posted pictures of some of these sites.
Did anyone mention Mims Bakery on the square from the 1950s to around 1980? Goodness gracious, seriously good cakes and other baked goods.
Quote from: stephendare on June 11, 2009, 03:47:57 PM
Pic N Save
What happened to Pic N' Save? They were WalMart/Kmart before there was WalMart or Kmart.
Every time you'd go the place would be packed, then one day they just closed.
Same thing with Phar-Mor. They were great, then one day, gone.
That Pic N Save was just great. Every good neighborhood needs a place to buy that must-have stuff from toilet paper to birthday cards to canned spaghetti and the pot to cook it in.
The way I heard the story was that it was a family owned business and the family got into a quarrel about selling the business or continuing it. Voila! No more Pic N Save.
Quote from: lindab on June 12, 2009, 12:26:35 PM
That Pic N Save was just great. Every good neighborhood needs a place to buy that must-have stuff from toilet paper to birthday cards to canned spaghetti and the pot to cook it in.
The way I heard the story was that it was a family owned business and the family got into a quarrel about selling the business or continuing it. Voila! No more Pic N Save.
Used to love Pic N Save, was at one point a major buy on the market, but the family destroyed it after the founder passed away. Still miss it, couldn't get cheaper jaguars stuff anywhere
Brief summary about Phar-Mor's demise from wikitty wikitty
Quote
In 1992, when the company had grown to over 300 stores and 25,000 employees, Monus and his CFO Patrick Finn were accused of embezzlement: they had allegedly hidden losses and moved about $10 million from Phar-Mor to the World Basketball League that Monus had founded. Based on deceptive data and inventory, Phar-Mor borrowed multi-millions from banks and similar institutions under the premise of financing its unusually rapid growth. In actuality, this infusion of cash was necessary to pay off suppliers. As a result, Phar-Mor had to file for bankruptcy protection, closed 55 stores and fired 5,000 employees. Finn testified against Monus and received 33 months in prison. Monus' first trial ended in a hung jury in 1994; he was convicted at the second trial on 109 federal counts, mostly related to fraud, and sentenced to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison. Prosecutors estimated that the total loss to all investors exceeded $1 billion. The sentence was appealed and later reduced to 11 years. Monus was fired from his position as COO of Phar-Mor.
One friend of Monus later admitted to having offered a bribe to an acquaintance of his on the first trial's jury; the juror had not taken the money but confirmed the scheme. Monus was tried for jury tampering and acquitted.
Several investors in Phar-Mor filed a civil suit against the company's auditors, Coopers & Lybrand. A jury decided in 1996 that the accountants committed common law and federal securities law fraud by falsely representing they had performed GAAS audits when in fact they had failed to do so.
Phar-Mor emerged from bankruptcy protection in 1995, having lost two-thirds of its stores.
More in depth article here
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_n15_v14/ai_12511758/
Sushi Rock and La Nopalera were in the 90s
If I remember Diamond Dolls was in the building in the 90's, then it was Apple Jacks Barbecue for several years.
what was in there before they knocked it down to create the "Oral Explosion"?
Quote from: Ernest Street on June 12, 2009, 04:08:18 PM
If I remember Diamond Dolls was in the building in the 90's, then it was Apple Jacks Barbecue for several years.
what was in there before they knocked it down to create the "Oral Explosion"?
That building was so many places.. It was The Eagle way back when, it was "1421" or whatever the number is, as another gay bar, & several different strip clubs
Quote from: stephendare on June 14, 2009, 10:39:55 AM
Wow. Great information.
And how could I have possibly forgotten Wormans! My ex fiancee Janice Price and I spent many many afternoons in there whilst we lived on Naldo.
The Napolean Cream Pastries were fracking unbeleivable.
Worman's is still open at their downtown location.
Makes me sad to go there, though. Thanks to COJ's "efforts", Worman's sits in the center of about 18 blocks worth of vacant lots in varying states of decay. It's desolate looking. They've torn EVERYTHING down. Worman's is about the last thing over there that A: is still open and B: still has a building standing.
There was also a "German/Hungarian" restaurant that was owned by a crotchety old guy a few years ago (near Matthew's) - what was that place called (?) - it was more of a sandwhich shop if I recall.
Vienna house or something... Ate breakfast there a few times. He was crotchety... :)
Just to get these photos I previously posted under the
"History" forum matched with this thread:
(http://www.landonhighschool1956.com/MEMORY%20LANE/SanMarcoSqA1940.jpg)
(http://www.landonhighschool1956.com/MEMORY%20LANE/Gulf-San-Marco.jpg)
Here are some great postcards of San Marco/South Jacksonville from the postcard collection of the Jacksonville Public Library ( http://jpl.coj.net/coll/florida/PCindex2.html ) :
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-021.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-023.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-024.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-022.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-020.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-018.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-016.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-016b.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-013.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-003.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-011.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/pc/PCJPG/PCJAX077-010.jpg)
(http://jpl.coj.net/dlc/florida/photo/images/L17-001.jpg)
We can not forget Mathew's and Mathew's Market.
Quote from: stephendare on June 16, 2009, 04:32:57 PM
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.
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?
There was a place called Out to Lunch in the square in the 80s. I used to go there with my mom on occasion.
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.
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.
Quote from: sandyshoes on November 14, 2009, 12:19:14 PM
...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.
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.
The Vienna place was the "Vienna Grill"
Review from '05:
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022505/lif_18047919.shtml
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?
Starling's Market, I think. Woman named Becky was the manager for a long time.
Starlings had awesome fruit salad, too.
I'm your Huckleberry!
SOUTH JACKSONVILLE MUNICIPAL RAILWAY
(Streetcar)
1923! SMILE!
OCKLAWAHA
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.
On the corner of Nira and San Marco, there used to be a Texas Drive In Restaurant. San Marco was so nice back then. :)
I didn't see Pom's Thai mentioned...or Simon's wine bar. I still miss Simons.
I see that Out to Lunch was mentioned earlier. It was owned by Paul Hanson who owned The Tree Steak House. I worked at the Tree from many years. It was a great place to work.
I didn't see Panera listed anywhere lol
Drove through San Marco this week and noticed that Herman Jackson's Atomic Cleaners was either closed or moved. It was in that location for at least 40 to 50 years. There was some mention on a business review site that it had changed hands at some point. Anyone have more details?
Herman Jackson's moved to the other side of the Square - can't remember the exact location - but very close to Peterbrooke's.
Does anyone else remember that there was a Fox restaurant in San Marco? I think there were three or four around town...now, the only one left is the one in Avondale. The San Marco Fox was on Hendricks, I think on the block where they tore everything down for the East San Marco project. It was on the same side of the street as Matthews. It was there when I went to Landon Junior High in the '60's. I also remember the A&P, White's, and Worman's Deli, all of which have been mentioned above. Once, some guys from Landon were over by White's one morning before school and saw some parcels on the sidewalk. They investigated and discovered one was a stack of Playboy magazines. Jackpot! Needless to say, when the folks who ran White's arrived to open up that day, one of their deliveries was missing! I'm not endorsing what those guys did...it was stealing, after all...but let's just say those Playboys found quick distribution among the young men of Landon and contributed to their education that day.
Has anyone mentioned Hartley the Florist?
Hartley Workin- was the contest name for a boat that he was getting and listeners called in with suggestions on the fishing show with Lageman, Waltz and Faver. I bought some flowers on occasion. I think its a restaurant now.
Mims Bakery during the 70s
Cooley Walker drug store
Peterson's 5 and Dime
Banner grocery
American National Bank
Atwood and Rodgers drug store
Daylight grocery store
I grew up in San Marco and lived there until 1986. I will add more as I remember them.
White's Bookstore
Roaming off course a bit, but Skateland on Kings.
2036: Publix opens in San Marco!
We should definitely document Café Carmon within this timeline.