Suburban Jacksonville: Exploring Cedar Hills
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/898320063_QMQYh-M.jpg)
Cedar Hills is a unique neighborhood that was developed during Jacksonville's transition from an urban to a suburban dominated community 60 years ago.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jun-suburban-jacksonville-exploring-cedar-hills
Blanding and 103rd street intersection, 1957................picture of an accident scene. Some things change but remain the same.
Absolutely beautiful neighborhood. Used to love just driving through there and enjoying the picturesqueness relative to the trees, houses, "laid backness," and southern charm. If you've never lived in Jax and stumble upon Cedar Hills, you'll swear that you're in a small town which is in fact Jax's "best kept secret." When I was in the Navy and stationed at NAS Jax, and lived across the street from the base in a trailer park, I would drive through Cedar Hills just to relax and enjoy the Southern charm! From the pics it appears that Cedar Hills has not changed very much; and that's good news!
"HU"
Huh????
I grew up in Argyle but went to Jeff Davis and NB Forrest and am very familiar with the area. I am amazed to see the older photos and what the area once looked like. Sort of reminds me of Back to the Future.
Overstreet, that was the first thought in my head when I saw that picture too!
I grew up there. Thanks Ennis the pics are a real kick! Moved there w/ mom and dad 1959. My parents still there.
Important to note very unpedestrian, un bike friendly. I remember many pedestrian/bike fatalities growing up. No change today. Original, ultimate statement of suburbia... for better or worse. Hats off to "HU" most of those homes went to navy personnel. Bought our house for $12,500 @ 3%. There was no property tax. Very humble neighborhood.
Again, Great article MetroJax!
I Spent most of my school age years in Cedar Hills. I miss the Cedar Hills movie theater.
Quote from: JeffreyS on June 14, 2010, 09:35:12 AM
I Spent most of my school age years in Cedar Hills. I miss the Cedar Hills movie theater.
It was a dollar theater when I moved here so I spent alot of time there and the theater at the Normandy Mall.
My mother took me to the Penney's when I was small. I remember being afraid of the escalator. I also remember going to S&S Cafeteria and to the Cedar Hills Theater.
Thanks for the coverage of Sweetwater. In one of the 90s Jacksonville books there is a reminiscence from an elderly gentleman (who founded a teachers' credit union) about growing up in Sweetwater, and I knew nothing about the neighborhood beyond that.
Quote from: heights unknown on June 14, 2010, 08:03:02 AM
Absolutely beautiful neighborhood. Used to love just driving through there and enjoying the picturesqueness relative to the trees, houses, "laid backness," and southern charm. If you've never lived in Jax and stumble upon Cedar Hills, you'll swear that you're in a small town which is in fact Jax's "best kept secret." When I was in the Navy and stationed at NAS Jax, and lived across the street from the base in a trailer park, I would drive through Cedar Hills just to relax and enjoy the Southern charm! From the pics it appears that Cedar Hills has not changed very much; and that's good news!
"HU"
As long as you stay away from "disneyland" Just to clarify disneyland is the area roughly north of wilson, south of wiley and bounded by Lane and firestone east and west
QuoteAs long as you stay away form "disneyland"
to clarify civil42806's post, I think he means thats a "rough" neighborhood. Mass murderers Ottis Toole and Henry Lucas lived in "disneyland".
I remember the J C Penneys, Woolworths, Blanding was two lane all the way to Melrose.
God, i feel old :D
Quote from: rainfrog on June 14, 2010, 02:15:01 PM
Just to nitpick a little, the stuff west of I-295 isn't considered Cedar Hills, unless word usage has changed in just the past couple of years. That's Oak Hill -- including the 103rd St Plaza pictured (with the Asian market) and I imagine some of those infill photos, too, as there's a great variety of infill on that side of I-295. It may be hard to imagine as young as the housing there seems, but 4 generations of my family call and have called it home. My grandfather was one of the first buyers in Oak Hill near Melvin & Firestone, and that area was never called Cedar Hills.
No offense taken. I took the boarder information from Walkscore.com, who used COJ's neighborhoods borders for their site. Although I don't agree with them, the list and map can be found here: http://www.walkscore.com/FL/Jacksonville
With that said, I did take the liberty to expand Sweetwater and Cedar Hill to reflect portions of these areas that are north of Wilson because Walkscore has the entire area labeled as Hyde Park.
QuoteI don't know how it was determined churches and schools are not the focal point of the community. ??? Church and school is everything out there!
Maybe socially but definitely not physically. Through site design, the churches, schools and parks were not laid out in a manor to being focal points of the community. It seems as if they were an afterthought. If you look at the development of older areas of our city, you'll find that these civic places were more well integrated with their surroundings.
I grew up in the Cedar Hill area (and parents still live near one of the Disney names). I too remember the JC Penney. My first haircut was at a barbershop in the shopping center. It's now part of the police substation I think.
Quote from: Jaxson on June 14, 2010, 10:13:10 AM
My mother took me to the Penney's when I was small. I remember being afraid of the escalator. I also remember going to S&S Cafeteria and to the Cedar Hills Theater.
Wow, I hadnt thought of the Penney store there for a long time. I was also deathly afraid of that escalator b/c I got a pair of wool pants stuck in there and I thought it was going to eat my leg. Fortunately, a woman in the shoe dept(at the foot of the escalator) quickly reacted and hit the emergency stop button. What a random memory... thanks Jaxson!
Miss the old neighborhood, thanks for the memories.
Spent 15 yrs on Autlan Dr, and many more around wesconnet/103rd.
Cedar Hills was the place to go shopping. Penny's then a movie at Cedar Hills Theater.
Times have changed.
I remember JC Penney's and the movie theater. Also remember the 1:32 scale slot car track in the recessed section of the older part of the center (south of Wilson). Spent many an hour, and dollar, getting my ass whipped by kids who had the skills and money to soup up their slot cars.
Ennis.. that ariel view of Cedar Hills 1959 is as close to seeing Lakeshore Blvd. I've gotten. Are there ANY images on the internet of houses, streets, ariel views, specifically within the confinds of the neighborhood in the middle of Lakeshore Blvd., Blanding Blvd. & San Jaun Ave.? I've got such an interest in old images, and this is the only site I've ever been able to find any.
I'm sure there are more on the state's database but here are a few.
Park Street and Lakeshore in 1958
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/rfisher/RF01263.jpg)
Cassat at Blanding in 1955
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/rfisher/RF00173a.jpg)
Aerial of Cassat and San Juan in 1955
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/rfisher/RF00176.jpg)
Gas station on San Juan in 1962
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/prints/pr76252.jpg)
http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/
There were several more still's operating along the Ortega River "above" Yukon, well into the 1960's. Hee Hee!
(http://www.birminghamrewound.com/5PW_Grants_down.jpg)
I remember thinking Cedar Hills was, "the biggest shopping center in the whole wide world." The little alcove in the middle of the original shopping center (everything South of Wilson) was once very pretty and begged one to take a break. I think it had a little fountain in it way back when??
Most of the cool stores that kept these places popular are gone, victims of the Walmart Big Box concepts. McCrorys, Kresge, Murphy's, TG&Y, W.T. Grants, F. W. Woolworth, Rexall (Pharmacys + Fountains), Kress, Peterson's 5 & 10, and Ben Franklin 5 & 10... one of which was owned by a guy named Sam Walton.
OCKLAWAHA
I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums. They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County). How grim!
For long term viability, these places will have to take a look at revising the land uses to make it possible for mixed-use development to sprout up at major and secondary intersections. Cedar Hills also includes a ton a drainage ditches and undeveloped utility easements. Since it lacks greenspace, it would not be a bad idea to start taking advantage of these spaces as linear parks that would strengthen recreational, pedestrian and bicycle network options within the area. Other than that, I agree. The future of neighborhoods like this will be grim if an effort isn't made to change the character from a complete focus and reliance on the automobile.
Quote from: lewyn on June 20, 2010, 04:21:20 PM
I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums. They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County). How grim!
love quotes like that, theres no way the burbs can survive. This area has been around for 60 years lot more people living around cassat, san juan than downtown
Quote from: lewyn on June 20, 2010, 04:21:20 PM
I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums. They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County). How grim!
OMG! I'm actually finding myself reading "CIVIL" and agreeing in general with his take. Being nearly twice as old as the average MJ board member and many of its posters, gives me a cool prospective. My family had a house in North Long Beach, California. I watched that little place go from a pre-war ALL WHITE, farm with craftsman, caught up in a boom of ranch style cottages and postage stamp lots, to an old and neglected burb, to a settled "old folks bario" to today, a younger, more upwardly mobile, Hispanic and Black neighborhood full of restorations.
More recently I visited some old haunts in both Ortega, Ortega Hills and Venetia. The same processes are at work here that swept Long Beach. What were some of those big changes?
From: Rural highways and roads with INTERURBAN service, slow hit and miss growth, wide open spaces, no zoning, no codes, well water, no AC, no sewer, no walks, no traffic lights, no street lights, few shrubs and trees, some open ditches, virtually no park space, heavy industry close-in...
To: Broad Boulevards, highways with INTERURBAN service and BUS service, A tract house phase with rapid growth, helter-skelter infill everywhere, zoning and building codes introduced, early water-sewers, no walks, few traffic lights, few street lights, "boiler plate" landscaping, open ditches, virtually no park space, heavy industry close-in...
To: Broad Boulevards, FREEways, buses and major blight, disrepair phase, 2nd-3rd generation ownership, spotty zoning, building code violations, water and sewer problems, sidewalks added, traffic lights and street lights proliferate, mature landscaping or DEAD landscaping, curbs and gutters, limited park space, closed industries.
To: Broad Boulevards Freeways, buses, and LIGHT RAIL, restoration phase, 3rd - 5th generation ownership, comprehensive zoning, up to code, new utilities, sidewalks, traffic lights, street lights, bus and LRT shelters, landscape restoration, curbs and gutters cleaned up, park space enlarged on bones of former industry sites. Bike Lanes and Paseo system opened and park n ride introduced, most rail freight bypasses the neighborhood.
Incredible that some people don't think it can be done in Jacksonville... Take a drive through Ortega Hills, and I'd suggest it is already happening. Ortega Hills is light years ahead of it's position in 1980. Two parks promised these residents in 1954 finally became a reality and the pride is resurgent.
I agree with LAKE that things must be done to bring these places into the new milenium. Certainly the expansion of parks and trails or green space has helped elsewhere. Sometimes it's the small details that are all it takes to get that pride back, perhaps access to the river? Sidewalks on both sides of the streets? Bus Shelters? Parks? Civic Buildings? Joint efforts with churches, schools and commercial property owners with common goals?
Next come the bronze "Cedar Hills Restoration" signs, I'll call for the LIGHT RAIL!
OCKLAWAHA
This is a moment in time I wish I had not missed!
Thanks for all the effort put into documenting some of the area's history!
Calling any and ALL volunteers!
Sorry for the last minute notice.
Saturday June 4, 2011 8a.m.
Greenscapes of Jacksonville, JEA Forestry division, Lake Shore middle, JSO school resource officer, parks and recreation and LAPS volunteers (www.lapsjax.org / www.lapsjax.blogspot.com) are gathering forces to plant 32 (30gallon size) treees and we NEED your help!
live oaks, swamp oaks, chestnut oaks, crepe myrtles, yaupon hollies, red cedars are all part of phase 1 of a large scale beautification and reforestation of the ballpark on LakeShore Blvd at the south end of Hamilton Street, across from Lamb's Yacht Center.
Refreshments provided.
We welcome your participation in giving back to the westside of our great city!
Thanks in advance!
see you there.
Those images are so amazing, thanks guys! Anybody remember some sort of construction accident that happened where the Winn Dixie is today? I know there was a JCP's there before, was it something to do with that?
I'm doing some remodeling to the kitchen of my home in CH and have found some interesting things, ie - door/window headers in walls, block removed during a remodel, hidden electrical wires
Where would one go to try and find original plans for the home?
Who was the developer at the time that built the subdivision?
Where can I get my hands on some of the older maps that show the area in, say, the 60's?
to deathstar
I grew up on Aldington Drive @ Wilson Boulevard, approximately 1/2 mile west of the Shopping Center. Winn-Dixie was originally located in the older part of the shopping center on the corner at Wilson Blvd. (where S & S Cafeteria would eventually locate). The new section of the shopping center was built North of Wilson Blvd and South of Hyde Park Blvd/Rd, bordered by Blanding Blvd to the East and Ellershaw Road to the West. Winn-Dixie moved it's operation into their new store at the end of the shopping center, (nearest Hyde Park Blvd/Rd.) and its neighbor to the South was Western Auto. I recall Winn-Dixie employees "literally" moving shelf items from the old store to the new..in shopping carts. (They did this for days). Upon vacating the premises a Colonial Food Store assumed the location in an effort to compete with Winn-Dixie; however, its tenure was short-lived. As for a construction accident, I don't recall any problems with any phase of the (strip) center, only the Cedar Hills Theatre. The (higher than normal - for concrete block) walls were constructed of "regular" concrete block, and apparently the wind kept blowing the walls down after workers left for the day/weekend. As I recall, that happened twice. No one has mentioned Atkinson's Pharmacy which (I believe) was Winn-Dixie's (original) neighbor. They had a soda fountain that made KILLER Chocolate Shakes that were 45 cents. Ah Geeessee. I just looked down at my keyboard to find the "cents" symbol to use after 45...and it's NOT THERE. PROGRESS! Some things are just best LEFT ALONE!
Quote from: deathstar on September 17, 2011, 01:41:34 AM
Those images are so amazing, thanks guys! Anybody remember some sort of construction accident that happened where the Winn Dixie is today? I know there was a JCP's there before, was it something to do with that?
There was a partial roof collapse at the old 2 level JCPenney either during or immediately following a remodel, current site of the W/D.
If memory serves me correctly, I do believe this occurred shortly before the store (sadly) closed for good.