Evergreen Cemetery

[second_pancake]

Likes:

• Activities - LOTS of things to do, even in the small towns and you know about them all because they're advertised in the papers, on tv, on the radio....a major station here was advertising the Rocky Horror Picture Show live production taking place at the Plano Community Theatre.  When's the last time you ever heard someone on a Jax radion station talking about a play at the San Marco Theatre or some small event taking place in Springfield?
• Mass Transit - We have the DART in Dallas which extends well beyond Dallas and connects historic areas like Carrollton (opening early next year), Plano and Frisco, and connects to a commuter rail called the TRE which takes you into Fort Worth and the cities in-between
• Sense of Pride - Namely in Fort Worth.  The city knows its history and completely embraces it.  It is not uncommon to see a guy or gal riding their horse directly into downtown.  The Stockyards area especially is as western as they come (and I DO mean "western" not redneck...iron-pressed wranglers and polished belt-buckles).  Fort Worth has markers and tourist information where they talk very openly about "Hell's Half-Acre" which was a red-light district type area with gambling, drinking and brothels.  The Stockyards has an area where they've recreated that type of night-life (less the brothels), as well as real rodeo shows every single weekend.  It's really nice to see a place not looking to take their queue from other places, but to have done research on their own history, what made them who they are and be completely unashamed and PROUD.
  

Things I DON'T like:

• Lack of History - With the exception of a few small areas and the major areas, Dallas and Fort Worth, North Texas is relatively new...most places having become established and recognized cities only in the 50's and 60's so there aren't a lot of quaint historic areas like we have in Jax with Avondale, Riverside, Springfield, San Marco, etc.  The only place here that we really like is Grapevine (a lot like a busier Fernandina Beach), but the historic homes are only about 20.
  
• McMansions - This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the lack of history thing because these McMansions (homes in excess of 3000 sq ft crammed into a small residential neighborhood) are usually replacing historic homes.  It seems people are more interested in having the biggest and newest rather than preserving and restoring.  When the house is in a designated historic area, people can get around the law of having to restore the previous property by tearing it down to the foundation and just building on top of it.  Of course, no one sees the foundation.
• Roadways - There are far too many interstates here.  There is an interstate called 35W and one called 35E but they run north and south, not east and west.  And when you travel a route one way, you can't simply retrace your route and go back the same way.  For instance, I took I-183 East to I-30 East into Dallas so to go home, I got onto I-30 West and was thinking I'd be able to get back onto I-183 but noooo.  It was nowhere in sight.  Instead, the interstate split off to take I-635 North or I-635 South.  I ended up in Plano...an hour and 15 minutes from home.  The interstates are also smaller than JTB.  There are fewer lanes (2 on each side divded by a concrete barrier) and the lanes seem tighter...closer together.  They also don't like to use painted lines, but rather, big white raised dots...or yellow dots.  It's really hard to understand where you are and where you're going.
• Horrible Drivers - It might be because of the tight lanes, all the dots and the confusion about where to go, but every time of every day, someone gets into a major wreck on the interstate and the entire highway closes down...yes, even the lanes in the opposite direction.  The drivers are infuriatingly SLOW!!!  If the speed limit is 40, they go 30-35 mph...in the left lane.  On the interstate, they drive no faster than 55 mph.  Seriously, North Texas transplants to Jax would have a freakin heart attack driving I-95 north into downtown...especially at the Prudential/Riverside/Main St. cluster.
  

So, all-in-all I would say, if Jax could have the North Texas entertainment and the pride of history it couldn't be beat...well, ok, we'd have to buy some nice Wranglers, shiny new cowboy boots as well as teach manners to all the rednecks, THEN we'd really have something

[Lunican]

Come see a grave view of history featuring entertaining dramas of Jacksonville history, all to raise funds for worthy causes. The Port of Jacksonville and Orange Park Pilot clubs is acting up again with the 11th tour of Tales of Our City, April 24-25, 2010 at one of Jacksonville’s oldest burial grounds, Evergreen Cemetery.

http://www.pilotclub.org/TOC.html

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=341677373003&ref=nf

[LPBrennan]

Mention was made of the railroad depot that once was at Evergreen. That was on the original Fernandina & Jacksonville line that is still there. But there was also a streetcar line that ran along the southeastern boundary of the cemetery as well. The Phoenix Park carline ran  along 8th to Phoenix (then Fisher) to 24th, then to Evergeen Avenue, past the cemetery to Phoenix Park and terminated near the Cummer Mill. Streetcar companies usually had a line to or past a cemetery, as it was a sure source of revenue until the automobile became common. Some of them had cars designed as hearses, but Jacksonville never had that luxury.

[Ocklawaha]

Hey Cuz

The mass transit in Dallas-Ft.Worth is great and getting better, Fort Worth with BOTH depots preserved and in use, Dallas with Union Station right at the foot of downtown. Fort Worth going Streetcar and Dallas LRT headed to the airport... Ahhh

I would respectively disagree with the history aspect. The history is rich and as deep as Florida (I know OUCH!) but since the Spanish were led off on the goose chase for Eldorado by the natives, it has been something to watch. Hell's half acre? Did you know Hell's Fringe was in Oklahoma? How about the Red River? Did you know The Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red, was accidentally used as the official border around Oklahoma Statehood? That gave the whole of Southwest Oklahoma to Texas! At least until the Okies went wild and occupied the bridges over the main or legal channel with their National Guard Troops, the governor collecting the tolls! Did you know Dallas and Fort Worth were the winter grounds for the Confederate Armies in Missouri's border wars? Not only my Great Uncle, but the James Boys, Daltons, Youngers, Archie Clement, Bill Anderson, William Quantrill, Sam and Belle Starr, Doc Holiday... Need we more?? Did you know Belle busted up a card game being played by every famous or infamous western lawmen, by coming in an upstairs window. She had two loaded 44's and cleaned up the table telling the boys to strip naked... "You know boys four four's beats anything on the table!" Go out to the local historical society and the regional museums, you will be wowed. 

PROUD? Oh hell, these families survived the dust bowl, they are tough as nails and put us to shame in pride.

McMansions, couldn't agree more, the north side of OKC, Edmond up through Kicking Bird is the same way, as is Broken Arrow and Skitook.

The little white bumps on the roadways are actually an improvement over white lines, they can even be illuminated. On a dark as surup tornadic stormy night, take a short drive and notice how they are above the water...  Just stay out of the arroyos.

As for slow Texas Drivers? WTF? I don't know where you found them, my experience is out in the open range those big pickup trucks will blast past at 100+... Texas had "Open Speed" until recently.

The biggest difference I ever noticed was a strong clique culture. Maybe because of the traditional isolation, persecution during the depression, whatever, if you are not from Texas or Oklahoma, you will NEVER BE FROM THEM. An old Ozark yarn tells of two ancient men on the front porch watching the funeral of a friend pass by the house. The first old man say's "There goes old Luke, lived here all his life he was really one of the boys..." The second old man cut him off and said "He most certainly was NOT! His family moved him here when he was 3 months old!"

When Okie's or Texans speak of how friendly they are, they simply mean, welcome, do your business and get the hell away from us. That single trait makes us the superior place to live.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

Mention was made of the railroad depot that once was at Evergreen. That was on the original Fernandina & Jacksonville line that is still there. But there was also a streetcar line that ran along the southeastern boundary of the cemetery as well. The Phoenix Park carline ran  along 8th to Phoenix (then Fisher) to 24th, then to Evergeen Avenue, past the cemetery to Phoenix Park and terminated near the Cummer Mill. Streetcar companies usually had a line to or past a cemetery, as it was a sure source of revenue until the automobile became common. Some of them had cars designed as hearses, but Jacksonville never had that luxury.

One of the very few preserved Funeral Cars, The Descanso (translates = "to rest") resides in a museum. It really is a rolling "high church". Note the coffin door under the small round window.

The jury is still out on the "Funeral Car" of Jacksonville Traction. I met with the wife of the late president of the company last week and Betty was of a mind that there WAS such a car. Did you know our system was the most advanced and had some of the best cars in the Southeast? We even had a streetcar school on Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn, near where the TU is today. I have many of the builders photos and Jacksonville bought over 100 cars from many different companies.  Brill, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Jewett etc... all there. Ortega Traction brought some shorty Interurban style cars to the fleet. There is almost certainly a car remaining somewhere in Jacksonville, hidden in a house, or back yard, used as a shed, or patio room, who knows? I have heard over and over about cars in San Marco, but nobody seems to know where they are.

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

Mention was made of the railroad depot that once was at Evergreen. That was on the original Fernandina & Jacksonville line that is still there. But there was also a streetcar line that ran along the southeastern boundary of the cemetery as well. The Phoenix Park carline ran  along 8th to Phoenix (then Fisher) to 24th, then to Evergeen Avenue, past the cemetery to Phoenix Park and terminated near the Cummer Mill. Streetcar companies usually had a line to or past a cemetery, as it was a sure source of revenue until the automobile became common. Some of them had cars designed as hearses, but Jacksonville never had that luxury.

Here is an image of Jacksonville Traction Car #168 on the Phoenix Park line.  It was named "Phoenix" after the city rose from the ashes of the 1901 fire.

[Bill Ectric]

Klutho was not popular when he died.  I've heard in the past that less than 10 people attended his funeral.

why?


From Wikipedia:
Later generations in Jacksonville did not appreciate the creativity and style of his designs. His contributions to the rebirth of the city were mostly ignored, except by his colleagues. On this, he quoted Desiderius Erasmus: "In the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king." Klutho lived to be 91, but was flat broke and his later years were difficult. Following his death, much of his work was razed or "renovated".[2] However, in the mid-1970's, a number of his creations were added to the National Register of Historic Places, assuring their preservation:

Dyal-Upchurch Building
Florida Baptist Building
Old Jacksonville Free Public Library (a/k/a Carnegie Library)
Morocco Temple
St. James Building (now the Jacksonville City Hall)
Thomas V. Porter House
Alexander St. Clair-Abrams House
Henry John Klutho House the architect's residence

[devlinmann]

wasn't klutho also a film producer?

[devlinmann]

"The legacy of Henry John Klutho lies not only in the buildings he left behind. He also was a nationally recognized visionary and an artist who chose to exercise his gifts in this sleepy Southern town. He was an urban planner, a major force in Jacksonville's movie industry, an inventor, a philosopher whose voice often went unheard. His architectural work remains as a brilliant part of one of America's greatest architectural movements."

from
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022199/cel_1p9kluth.html

[Sassy poe]

So, all-in-all I would say, if Jax could have the North Texas entertainment and the pride of history it couldn't be beat...well, ok, we'd have to buy some nice Wranglers, shiny new cowboy boots as well as teach manners to all the rednecks, THEN we'd really have something

 
I just found this lovely cemetery and your post ruined it. I would think after all of the above comparisons you didn't need to add the negative about teaching manners to "rednecks" I was born and raised in Texas. I have seen all of the things you mentioned. That does not make Texas any better or any worse than any other state. You sound pompous and arrogant, in need of the some of the manners you mentioned.

I also think Ocklawaha handled your putdown well, kudos to him!