My first thread detailed Ortega, so see that first.
Some history on Riverside and Avondale:
After the Revolutionary War, the Spanish government, which owned all the land currently occupied by the Florida Peninsula, wanted to attract inhabitants to present day Jacksonville (St. Augustine was already very well inhabited, and is 30 miles south). They broke the land on the west side of the river into 2 tracts, and one went to Phillip Dell, the other to Robert Hutcheson. After trading hands and being broken down further, the bottom 500 acres were purchased by an agent for Boston millionaire John Murray Forbes, who named it Riverside. There were plantations on the land all throughout the area.
The area remained rural until 1887, when a streetcar was built to the area from downtown and a surge of residents followed. Following the Great Fire of 1901 (one of the largest in US history), many prominent residents started anew and built mansions along present day Riverside Avenue, and the stretch became known as “The Row†because of all the mansions. Deeper away from the river, middle class families built bungalows and 2 story houses, almost all of which exist today and make the area very charming.
The Fire brought down so many famous architects from New York who ended up living here, and on the residential side Riverside became a national experiment for architects and developers, and still has the largest variety of architectural styles in FL.
Avondale, further south, was developed by Telfair Stockton as a wealthy street car suburb. Sidewalks, sewage, city water, gas, electricity, and phone lines were installed in a grid pattern before lots were even sold. 16 parks were designed and laid out by OH landscape architect William Pitkin, and homes were constructed to high standards and uniform tastes (kind of similar to gated communities today). Most of the homes are 2 story Mediterranean Revival inland, and a mix on the water.
There are 3 commercial strips in Avondale, and one of them is quite upscale with great restaurants…recently featured in Southern Living magazine. Riverside has 5 points, and is a very walkable neighborhood by Sunbelt city standards.
On to photos, and some will have their own captions.
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This is a redevelopment site. As soon as the economy picks back up, this site will be completely redone. There were significant plans that almost went through before 2008. If nobody does anything with the site, I certainly will find a way with my empty pockets to do something with it. Few sites in the South have as much potential as this.
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Fairfax Manor separates Avondale from Ortega via the Ortega Bridge. The best place for the public to take pictures of the skyline and water scenes is Baker Park next to the NW end of the Ortega Bridge.
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House and river guest house, built just after 1900. The owner has quite a car collection, too, of old Aston Martins and Rolls Royces (and Jags, loves British cars and boats).
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Old William Stockton residence built in 1915.
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Residence built for Edward Lane in 1927 and designed by Marsh & Saxelbye. Edward Lane founded Atlantic National Bank and his wife demanded a home like the one that they stayed in England. This house is purely Avondale.
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Less than 2 decades old.
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Also relatively new.
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Home built in 1925 and designed by Marsh & Saxelbye.
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A member of the family that runs the large REIT Regency Centers lives in the house on the left (an old house that has been added onto by architect Richard Skinner). Another family home can be seen in the first thread about Ortega.
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This looks very much like stereotypical Florida to me, but I like it, a lot.
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A major hedge fund manager lives here. I have definitely partied a fair amount here hehe.
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1922 home.
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New home on left and old home on right.
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Former executive of Charter. Still owns some refineries in the Bahamas.
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This definitely epitomizes the neighborhood, I think.
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1922 home
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Looking north towards Riverside and Downtown. It was very windy/choppy when I took these pictures.
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This and the house next door were built in 1913. There was a well publicized feud between the two neighbors (Simms and McDuff) and one of them built a 15 ft. wall between the two houses. The house that is photographed has some of the best gardens/landscaping I have ever seen, and you cannot even see it from the road; you have to drift by in a boat.
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Average age: 75+
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This looks like French country to me, and the canal that goes back there is beautiful. I have to get some pictures of the neighborhood from street level soon.
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1924 home built as part of Willow Branch Terrace.
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Note the modern interpretation of the prairie school of architecture in the building at left. Jacksonville has the largest collection of Prairie Style architecture outside of the major cities in the Midwest, and to this day people still design buildings with interpretations of Prairie Style.
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St. Vincent’s Hospital. It marks the divide between Riverside and Avondale, and this area is very walkable with bars, restaurants, and shops, as well as the only church designed by famed Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner.
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VillaRiva condos. Pretty pricey.
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1928 Jacobethan Revival home built by Leon Cheek, the first head of Maxwell House Coffee, which was started in Jacksonville and still operates its main coffee production from the city near downtown. The smell of roasting coffee beans permeates the air in the morning and smells great (as well as accentuates the coffee you are probably already drinking).
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Riverside peeking above the tree line.
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Riverside is a little denser than Avondale.
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Notice the 1924 house at left, designed by a lady (which was odd for back in the day, but she also designed Jacksonville’s grand Federal Reserve Building, which is unoccupied today).
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Park Lane Apartments, constructed in 1926 at the height of the FL Land Boom/Building Boom. Original “co-op†units went for $12,000 and up! Heh, and this building is the forerunner to FL’s high rise condo craze.
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Memorial Park. In the 1890s, a $500,000 hotel was planned for the site (that’s like a 750 room hotel in today’s dollar equivalency). The land was bought by the city in 1919, and a local heiress and gardener, Mrs. Arthur Cummer, commissioned the Olmsted Brothers (sons of Frederick Law Olmsted…i.e. Central Park, Buffalo, etc) to design the park and make it serve as a memorial to those fallen in WWI. The park reflects the 19th century romantic style with a large open space bordered by an oval promenade with shaded seating areas around the periphery. The bronze statue visible in the foreground depicts the “winged figure of youth rising above the mad maelstrom of earthly passions.†It was sculpted by C. Adrian Pillars, a well known Florida sculptor. The park was ravaged by a tornado in 1997 that coincidentally hit my house as well, 4 miles away, and tore glass/roofing off of my dad’s office building near downtown. Most of the centuries old oaks were uprooted.
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Late 1800s or early 1900s house. Not on the riverfront, but in the area there are a good number of homes dating from between 1850 and 1900.
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The Woman’s Club of Jacksonville, recently purchased by the Cummer Museum for event space. Built in 1927, it is currently under renovation.
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Cummer Museum and Gardens, the latter of which date back to 1910. Ninah Cummer was a philanthropist, horticulturist, and art collector. The current museum is one of the top art galleries in the south and features rooms of the old Cummer mansion, their collections, and their gardens, which form the “backyard.†The museum has the largest collection of Meissen Porcelain in the world, I believe (maybe 2nd largest).
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This is where I-95 passes over the river. Underneath is the weekly Riverside Arts Market. Currently expanding all the way to Riverside Park and adding a dock so that the River Taxi can make a stop there. It is a highly successful art/farmers market, and Riverside and Jacksonville as a whole is a very artsy area. There is talk to extend the riverwalk from the Art Market past the Cummer to Memorial Park. Currently the Northbank Riverwalk starts on the opposite end of downtown and treks 2 miles south to the Art Market.
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This stretch of Riverside Avenue extending into downtown is what business leaders hope will become our version of Brickell Avenue. It better be because the city bulldozed the entire neighborhood so it could widen the street and put in tropical landscaping. Companies headquartered here include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Fidelity Information Services, Fidelity National Financial, the Dupont Trust (set up by the Dupont family which wintered in Jacksonville and ended up living here), Everbank (the largest bank in FL and just received naming rights to the Jaguars Stadium), St. Joe (the largest landowner in FL…just relocated to the Panhandle where they own large tracts of undeveloped land), Haskell Company, and the Florida Times Union. There are currently more offices and some condos that are about to go up.
Let me know what you guys think!
As a Jacksonville immigrant, I loved this photo tour!!! There is so much rich history along the river that someone like me without a boat never gets to experience. And the homes are beautiful! I wonder if there would be others interested in a narrated Jacksonville River History Boat Tour. It would be pretty neat to be able to take a tour from RAM on a Saturday afternoon. Get out on the river and learn some history. Perhaps the Cummer should look into a River History tour as an extension of the museum?
excellent stuff again!
sure is !
Great job. This is worthy of being on the front page.
Well done and very nice.
Quote from: thelakelander on August 08, 2010, 09:50:03 PM
Great job. This is worthy of being on the front page.
totally agree
The 1924 and 1922 Homes are where it's at!
Hopefully the Brooklyn area can bring some new public space, restaurant, nightlife and retail mix to balance out the already heavy financial side of the street there. 200 Riverside is a good start, but a small one. To really energize a nightlife/retail/destination place, you'd like to see at least one intersection with four interesting places at each corner.
Nice job. So much information. Great pictures.
Quote from: rjp2008 on August 09, 2010, 12:15:04 AM
The 1924 and 1922 Homes are where it's at!
Hopefully the Brooklyn area can bring some new public space, restaurant, nightlife and retail mix to balance out the already heavy financial side of the street there. 200 Riverside is a good start, but a small one. To really energize a nightlife/retail/destination place, you'd like to see at least one intersection with four interesting places at each corner.
To see a revitilized Brooklyn would be SO awesome.. to see Annie Lytle restored as the Gateway to Brooklyn from Riverside would be icing on the cake!
than ks for all the picture tours...maybe folks can actually be proud of Jacksonville!
QuoteThis looks like French country to me, and the canal that goes back there is beautiful. I have to get some pictures of the neighborhood from street level soon.
That was the former site of the Yacht Club.
Nice pics!
^^^ one of them :) First one was downtown, the second one was off of Margaret Street, and the third one was here.
Quote from: brainstormer on August 08, 2010, 09:10:09 PM
As a Jacksonville immigrant, I loved this photo tour!!! There is so much rich history along the river that someone like me without a boat never gets to experience. And the homes are beautiful! I wonder if there would be others interested in a narrated Jacksonville River History Boat Tour. It would be pretty neat to be able to take a tour from RAM on a Saturday afternoon. Get out on the river and learn some history. Perhaps the Cummer should look into a River History tour as an extension of the museum?
Other than the fact that I love being an accountant and my employer, that would be my dream job. Oh, and I live in Virginia and do not know how to pilot a boat. Minor setbacks, really.
"Notice the 1924 house at left, designed by a lady (which was odd for back in the day, but she also designed Jacksonville’s grand Federal Reserve Building, which is unoccupied today)."
Henrietta C. Dozier is the incredibly talented lady's name. :-) This interesting interview with her will tell you she also wished to design theWomen's Club of Jacksonville, of which she was a member, but the commission went to the husband of another club member. I wonder if they have a copy of Henrietta's design in their archives somewhere.
http://jaxhistory.com/Dozier.html
I will ALWAYS wish to see the water taxi route extended to include a stop in the Marina Mile district at the half-bridge fishing pier at Sadler Marina below the US-17 Roosevelt Ortega bridge.
hmm.
The Commander tower and Loop/Espeto strip will be an interesting project to watch unfold oneday, thanks for the reminder!
Oneday when the Riverwalk does allow access via boat directly to Memorial Park etc. perhaps we'll enjoy the McCoy greenway reaching NW, and the Landing @ Laura Street north and Met Park and Shipyard pier out on the east end along with "our" Brickell Ave.
but how 'bout the water taxi stop?
I would not be suprised of some (/many) folks reject the idea of adding a stop at Stockton Park_the newly restored "trolley" (/a.k.a. sort-bus) line handles that.
the top of the "new" bridge is an impresive spot to watch the downtown fireworks for any event btw.
do I hear park and ride lot anyone?
with all marine businesses in the immediate vicinity, one would think it could be a straight forward approach to install a mini bouyant dock...
Quote from: ricker on September 26, 2010, 02:11:00 PM
with all marine businesses in the immediate vicinity, one would think it could be a straight forward approach to install a mini bouyant dock...
Ricker and Simms that is why a pocket pier floating dock should be a number 1 campaign issue not only in the mayoral race but the upcoming city council race.
Stockton park would work. Simms in your opinion what would be the best waterfront public access street end in Ortega, Riverside, or Avondale that would be an additional location and benefit for a pocket pier?
The recent River Summit showed that Duval county is lacking in this additional economic benefit and Public Access opportunity that is being used in other counties.
I do see the sense in opening access to the river for all to enjoy. I simply wish it was easier to get folks to show up in Council Chambers, fill out a 3 minute speaker card and lay out a basic wish list.
All of the work c/should be completed by the string of qualified businesses in the immediate area.
I feel it in me bones that the residents of old Ortega may not approve of such an attachment to the relatively quiet Stockton Park. Understandably so as this sort of an improvement may add more traffic to Ortega Blvd at St.Mark's and the Village which seems counterproductive to the aim of recently slated "improvements' at the south end of the Blvd.
The fishing pier at Sadler continues to be a topic of conversation with many folks unprompted by myself.
Such an element added to the area of Lakeside Park and Roosevelt Mall, Lake Shore and the Marina Mile would allow that vicinity to experience a stabilization in home values and add a much needed park for the surrounding somewhat isolated neighborhood.
I am certainly an advocate for thinking regionally.
who knows_homeland security may prohibit a boat dock within the railway?
One can dream.
I would hope before all else, Ortega gets a few more sidewalks.
It has always struck me as odd how large swaths of Jax in the Avondale/Ortega/Murray Hill/Lakeshore area (and era) have very patchy networks of sidewalks despite their wonderful grids, many streets with none at all, or those random stretches in front of one or two houses only, separated from the roadway by grass and beginning and ending with grass. True, I can tell many paved paths have been subsequently added to these neighborhoods since they were built, probably mostly where kids walk to school, but I would think by now ALL of these now-considered-inner neighborhoods would be filled with as much an abundant network of paved walking paths as their network of roadways, with a complete ring around every single block, or at the very least a sidewalk on one side of every single street.
When A) many post-WWII subdivisions have sidewalks on every single street on both sides, without the blessing of being close to the center of town, and B) newer streets and arterial roads out in the middle of exurbia have miles and miles of sidewalks, signage, and crossing signals where there's absolutely nothing to walk to yet and may not be for a long time to come, the many gaps in the older parts of town just seem that much stranger. I'm no planner, but I'd like to see Jax more walkable, pedestrian friendly, and pro-transit, and it seems like sidewalks would be an obvious and forehead-slapping starting point!
I mean, let's face it, we shouldn't have to walk on anyone's grass or in the middle of a street where we're MOST likely to be distracted by good architecture worth being distracted by. :P
Agreed that residents of Jacksonville need more riverfront access. I have lived on the river in Ortega for most of my life, so I feel like I am in tune with many thoughts in the hood (and I must say I diverge on opinion in some areas and share many of the same sentiments).
The way to increase river access in the closer in neighborhoods like Ortega and Avondale is NOT to put in a boat ramp. That is NEVER going to happen. Most people in the area are members or friends of members of FYC, which has a boat ramp in a quiet, secluded corner. A boat ramp is a blight and attracts traffic in the form of big suburban towing ~25 ft. Grady White, turning around, backing it up, people helping direct, etc. I personally get tired enough of people from Clay County slowly meandering down my street just to view the neighborhood let alone towing a freakin boat to launch on a ramp! Just move here, there are affordable houses :)
The ramps should stay in private places like FYC, at designated marinas like Lamb's or Sadler (no ramp, it has a lift, same with Lamb's), and in less developed areas.
The best way to increase access is to do what people in Ortega have done with Stockton Park and Baker Point near the bridge and that is to spend some private money to spruce it up. McGirts Park needs a major rehabilitation and better parking. People already come to that park from all over to launch their canoes/kayaks, which is fine because it doesn't produce the same traffic and the park slopes down into the water (no bulkhead). There is a strip of land at Little Van Wert next door to Jennifer Johnson's old house in Avondale that could be turned into something (though the current other next door neighbors would have a major meltdown if there was an even a proposal to do something...when we used to drink there in high school they got mad and most of us know them and went to school with their kids...imagine strangers or the Stockton Crowd fishermen type).
Redoing the rest of the parks is the only and best way. Riverfront access aside from the parks is even more limited than beachfront access in PVB because there are no "access" points, even covered up. Downtown is a more public area and should be the focal point of where to access the waterfront, not Ortega or Avondale or San Marco because these are all quiet single family (mostly) residential neighborhoods, and residents put down a fork load and pay a forkload annually to enjoy the riverfront peacefully and privately. It is pretty dang nice that some residents in Ortega have spruced up the local parks on their own dime for the enjoyment of others (check out Ortega Bridge and Stockton Park...none of those people live in the neighborhood, they come in by bus and car...and might I add we saw a dramatic increase in crime in Ortega from 2005-2008, I don't know if that was a correlation, but we have a doctor friend who parked by Baker Point and was shot in the morning on his jog because he wouldn't give his keys to some hoodrats that wanted to steal his car...he's alive).
As for sidewalks, yea we could use them. All of the moms go on power walks and have to walk in the street and all of the kids ride bikes/gopeds and have to ride in the street. Some roads in Ortega are more frequently used as throughways by outsiders like Ortega Blvd and McGirts Blvd so they sometimes become dangerous to even be on if you aren't in a car. I know some people don't want to see their yard torn up, but I know some people interestingly who feel like the city spends way too much money in new neighborhoods in the burbs and not enough money in the old neighborhoods (my parents are among those). As a result, you have residents that spend their own money on projects in Ortega. It was private residents that got permits and spent money to have speed bumps put on Ortega Blvd/Grand near the curve (though some people got mad at that and tore them up). The city refuses to pay a dime for anything in the neighborhood, especially at this point, I guess because it assumes everyone there just has the money to throw at projects themselves. It's a real double standard because riverfront residents already pay higher ad valorem taxes than anyone else in the city (aside from your office buildings or multifamily) and we don't "use" the system as much (most residents work downtown using roads already in existence and nobody sends their kids to public school...so that's a double whammy there too).
Ok explanation over, but I did forget one thing. River taxi stop will never come to Ortega. Nobody in Ortega would use it for commuting and we already get enough "visitors" to our parks. We don't want tourists in our "quiet" neighborhood on top of that and the associated traffic and need for additional parking. Plus the city would most likely make us pay for it like they do everything else and it ain't going to happen.
Quote from: ricker on October 03, 2010, 12:19:40 AM
I do see the sense in opening access to the river for all to enjoy. I feel it in me bones that the residents of old Ortega may not approve of such an attachment to the relatively quiet Stockton Park. Understandably so as this sort of an improvement may add more traffic to Ortega Blvd at St.Mark's and the Village which seems counterproductive to the aim of recently slated "improvements' at the south end of the Blvd.
The fishing pier at Sadler continues to be a topic of conversation with many folks unprompted by myself.
See above loooonnnnnggggg explanation of everything, LoL. Until you live on Ortega Blvd or McGirts you just don't realize how much traffic there actually is with 90% being from places like Clay County, busses, or other traffic. We're fine with it to a degree, but nobody is going to allow Ortega to turn into a tourist stop or destination for visitors. It's a public residential neighborhood and should remain as such.
Also the fishing pier is a good idea. I have pushed for it a little myself. It will happen someday. I personally don't think it will "stabilize" home values. Fishermen don't add value to an area (they don't detract though either), but sometimes associated acts can detract from the area if crime elements are also brought it (which often happens, has happened in Ortega as a result of sprucing up the Ortega Bridge area and Stockton Park). At least parking space is already abundant. Having worked at Sadler a long time ago and knowing the owner's of Lamb's/Huckins as well, there will be security concerns for sure, and rightfully so. A fishing pier doesn't "close" at night, and that area already sees drunk teenagers (who throw bottles at things), homeless, fishermen (already there, trust me), and hoodrats (who like to steal things, especially off of boats). Would designating it an official pier and sprucing it up a little and adding parking increase the night presence or would it decrease? Perhaps a $400,000 study could answer that. ;)
Very funny with the $400 large!
As an active volunteer in the area, I made a motion for the group to adopt the half-bridge in accordance with the fdot program in order to encourage an improvement in the types of traffic visiting the pier.
We have since obligated ourselves to quarterly clean-ups which have turned out a great crowd.
In the hope of finding shelter from the heat for the older ones and the ability to retreat from the pop-up showers uor climate is known for during the summer, we've found Mr.Busey (Brooks) to be a rather aproachable young man with great ideas which are building momentum.
As for good ol' Mr.Bronson... I am dying to know what may ever happen with that 2 level motel looking building at the front of his property at the end of Hamilton St.?
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to the gross need in the sidewalk department in the (now) inner city neighboroods.
Granted, these were the original 'burbs. Some areas are still treated like rural outposts and have not been readdressed since the 1940s.
Absurdity ensues when considering the traffic VOLUME (in "studies") should not have to compete for consideration in funding future horizontal improvements when the many MODES of traffic now mixing in some areas alone should warrant the implementation of at least the basics throughout.
growing up in the fishweir end of (not really) avondale, on the creek (technically riverside's Crabtree Manor) in a home my family extensively renovated (i.e. doubled the sqft) after moving out of ortega, it's funny to remember so many of my friends asking fish what?
there(i/wa)'s a car or 3 in that there creek.
ask anyone older than 85 who knew the area well before Azalea terrace was built up.
we're talking first few classes of Fishweir(opened in 1917-1918). the end of Valencia purportedly lead to a dumping ground. including a car scrap yard before Fishweir +park+
paddling my canoe as a kid ,I beached myself on the top of a white roofed coupe of some great year (no rust visible)
I guess there isn't much to photograph except the spiders under 17.
I love this place and wish some folks were't so damn haughty.