FDOT and JTA recently replaced and updated all the signs on US1 south of the city. There were 2 variations of the road, "Philips" and "Phillips".
What was it really?
FDOT says it was named after the Director of Highways for the region in the 1920's. An old timer told me it was named after a small town along an FEC rail stop called "Phillips" just beyond South Jacksonville.
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/countgal/hamm16/16hamm16.htm says "Philips" in 1920
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/countgal/phil00/16phil00.htm says "Phillips" in 1904
OK, what is it really?
FEC appeared to have a habit of naming stops after the people who lived nearby (ie: Bowden, Bayard, Cashens).
Same family? Coincidence?
We just spent quite a few thousand dollars replacing the signs, I hope they don't find out in 10 years they were wrong.
According to Times Union archives:
QuoteThe 2-acre cemetery sits a few blocks off Philips Highway on land that was once part of an original land grant made to William Hendricks by Spain in 1797. Hendricks' daughter married Albert Philips Sr., father of Duval County's first sheriff and owner of the adjacent 450-acre Red Bank Plantation. In 1870, the 2-acre site became home to the small wooden Philips Methodist Church, school and graveyard. Wooden markers that marked those early graves are long gone, as is the church.
City historic planner Joel McEachin said the cemetery warranted historic preservation because it is one of the few reminders of a rural community that used to be there, associated with the Philips and Hendricks families.
"They had a plantation, and after the Civil War, a community sprung up around there," he said. "The road in front of the cemetery is the Old Kings Road, the first highway in North Florida. It was well-traveled in the early years and very important as a connection. The railroad line came in in the 1880s, and that also had to help the continued growth of the area."
Source: Old cemetery now slowly losing its battle with time, Florida Times-Union 3/12/03My guess is that FDOT is wrong and the old timer is right. History appears to show that this entire area was named after the owner of the nearby Red Bank Plantation, Albert Philips Sr. By the way, tomorrow's article is a photo tour of this neighborhood.
Philips
The Times Union just published a different explanation entirely. Lake, you may need to update your article tomorrow for this. ;)Quote
How Philips Highway got its name
Submitted by Jessie-Lynne Kerr on June 2, 2010 - 8:59am Call Box
Dear Call Box: I am unable to find who or why Phillips [sic] Highway was named after. I have determined that there were no Jacksonville mayors, Florida governors or U.S. congressmen from Florida named Phillips. Can you help? â€" F.C., Jacksonville
Dear F.C.: First, the correct spelling is Philips with just one “l†and it is a situation with which I am very familiar. The highway was named for Duval County Judge Henry Bethune Philips, who distinguished himself as the first chairman of the old Florida State Road Board, forerunner of the Florida Department of Transportation.
The idea to name the then new portion of U.S. 1 on the Southside after Philips came from the Southside Business Men’s Club to honor Philips’ efforts at building Florida highways. He had drafted the legislation that in 1921 created the state highway department.
The club was in charge of the festivities on July 12, 1934, when Philips, then 76, cut the ribbon along with Florida Gov. Dave Scholtz. Philips died in 1939.
This reporter wrote about the misspelled highway signs in a Street Talk column 15 years ago, quoting the judge’s son, Eber Philips, who said as long as his mother was alive she would get after the city to correct the spelling. Eber Philips died in 2000.
The column caught the eye of the late Bob Hill, who was head of the city’s traffic engineering department at the time. He promptly ordered new streets signs made for the entire length of Philips Highway. It took some months to get the Florida DOT to correct the exit signs from Interstate 95 to the highway named for its founder.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/402032/jessie-lynne-kerr/2010-06-02/how-philips-highway-got-its-name
It isn't just street signs, I know of a strip mall with Opustone and then the Phillips Industrial Park south of 9A, by the new Greenland Power Plant.
Quote from: thelakelander on August 02, 2010, 10:08:41 PM
According to Times Union archives:
QuoteThe 2-acre cemetery sits a few blocks off Philips Highway on land that was once part of an original land grant made to William Hendricks by Spain in 1797. Hendricks' daughter married Albert Philips Sr., father of Duval County's first sheriff and owner of the adjacent 450-acre Red Bank Plantation. In 1870, the 2-acre site became home to the small wooden Philips Methodist Church, school and graveyard. Wooden markers that marked those early graves are long gone, as is the church.
City historic planner Joel McEachin said the cemetery warranted historic preservation because it is one of the few reminders of a rural community that used to be there, associated with the Philips and Hendricks families.
"They had a plantation, and after the Civil War, a community sprung up around there," he said. "The road in front of the cemetery is the Old Kings Road, the first highway in North Florida. It was well-traveled in the early years and very important as a connection. The railroad line came in in the 1880s, and that also had to help the continued growth of the area."
Source: Old cemetery now slowly losing its battle with time, Florida Times-Union 3/12/03
My guess is that FDOT is wrong and the old timer is right. History appears to show that this entire area was named after the owner of the nearby Red Bank Plantation, Albert Philips Sr. By the way, tomorrow's article is a photo tour of this neighborhood.
How does FDOT have it wrong? All of the signs I have seen - both the little ones at intersections and the big ones on the interstate - have one "L". Are there some newer signs with 2?
I was saying wrong in terms of the original name, not the current street signs. Stjr, that was only one source that I posted. I have others including the Jacksonville Architectural Heritage book. I guess it appears that there is a real debate on the naming of the highway and the surrounding area.
Right, missed that - but it seems they have corrected themselves.
same family i wonder?