Neighborhoods: Englewood

[billy]

billy, there's a Cuban bakery on Dean Road at Beach, that also makes sandwiches - is that the one?

This was on Emerson. Maybe they moved.

[Bativac]

Did you happen to go to Burrell's day care? 

You weren't asking me -- but I went to Burrell's in the early to mid 80s (1984 I think, maybe a year or two after that). I have vague memories of a big playground with lots of fun, dangerous, old-fashioned equipment. Even a broken-down old schoolbus we were allowed to play in. I remember watching Inspector Gadget cartoons in the mornings... good times.

[riverside planner]

Did you happen to go to Burrell's day care? 

You weren't asking me -- but I went to Burrell's in the early to mid 80s (1984 I think, maybe a year or two after that). I have vague memories of a big playground with lots of fun, dangerous, old-fashioned equipment. Even a broken-down old schoolbus we were allowed to play in. I remember watching Inspector Gadget cartoons in the mornings... good times.

I went there during the late 70s and early 80s.  Yes, I remember the playground being huge and having lots of equipment that would NEVER be allowed today!  Summers were the best though because they had a day camp off of Tiger Hole Road with horses, a pool and a stocked pond.  I can only imagine the waivers and insurance forms that would be required for that these days!

[roninvirginia]

When I was 3 we lived on the corner of Mimosa and Abby Lane, my dad said he paid $8,000 for the house. In 1953 we moved to Mayfair Village on Beach Blvd. Don't remember much about that place except for the playground in the middle. We moved to Copper Circle East in 1955, the year I started school at Spring Park. The very next year, Englewood Elementary opened and I was there until the middle of the sixth grade when we moved to Avondale. That was a traumatic move that took me a long time to get over.

As children we played in the "woods" where the Lincoln-Mercury dealership was later built. It was uncleared land that offered ample opportunities for adventuresome boys to spend their energy and time wandering about, building forts, looking for "stuff" and just generally doing what young boys do. We were gone from breakfast till dinner, with a break for lunch. Our parents never worried about what we were doing...... those were the days.

[Bativac]

I went there during the late 70s and early 80s.  Yes, I remember the playground being huge and having lots of equipment that would NEVER be allowed today!  Summers were the best though because they had a day camp off of Tiger Hole Road with horses, a pool and a stocked pond.  I can only imagine the waivers and insurance forms that would be required for that these days!

Camp Chippewa! Back when we were allowed to run around dressed as politically incorrect Indians... And I remember five-minute-long horseback rides in a big circle. Good times. Good times.

[David]

Did you happen to go to Burrell's day care? 

No, but actually it's good that you asked that, I had to look that daycare center up. Turns out I do have a slight case of childhood amnesia. I went to a place off Spring GLEN road, not Spring Park. I always mixed those two up!

[Battgirl328]

Uncle John's Pancake House, near University on Beach.

my mom worked at uncle johns, haven't heard that name in a long time!

[Battgirl328]

Wow! With apologies to Bob Hope, thanks for the memories. We lived in Englewood from 1966 to 2000, directly behind Pic 'n Save.  So both I and my kids grew up there.  I remember when the Hess Station was built, and the rest of the shopping center that you don't see behind it. Yes, the S&H store was there. I also remember a Joseppi's Italian Restaurant at one point.  My first high-school waitress job was at the Village Oven diner, but later I worked at Uncle John's for several years. Don't remember any scary portraits or striped shirts...must have been somewhere else. Maybe the Fritch's Big Boy next door? It had a huge statue of a kid with yellow hair holding a burger or something.  Uncle Johns...all you can eat 69 cent pancakes on Wednesdays, including coffee, Englewood High Spirit Breakfasts on Friday mornings before football games and crazy busy after church on Sundays when apparently everyone in Jacksonville wanted pancakes.

I was just telling david how we used to walk to the pic n save, and i remember when they built the phillips hwy overpass, and although i don't remember uncle johns, i remember your stories about it

[Timkin]

Does anybody know what the Liberty furniture building used to be?  I've always wondered why they have a drive-up covered structure there.

It was JP Peppercorns before Liberty Furniture, and Origonally Valle's

[Paisleyparker330]

Is Uncle John's the one that had creepy portraits on the walls?  Kind of a Ragtime-era theme?  I have a vague memory from childhood of eating at some pancake house in town like that.  Creeped me out.  Sketchy server guy didn't help with not creeping out a young kid.

They had horrible Muzak playing as well- I can't hear the song "Georgie Girl" (also used in old 80's Barbie commericals, modified to "Barbie Girl") without my skin crawling.  May just be due to it being a terrible song.  Thankfully, aren't many places you can hear something like that nowadays, outside of Jones College radio.

Great.  Now I need to seek therapy over this repressed memory.  Thanks, MJ! 

Tangent aside, was that Uncle John's or am I thinking of another place?  Anyone else recognize/remember the place I'm talking about?

My Dad was the chef at Uncle John's, there was a write up about him in the Times Union. I remember the pigs in a blanket, but I don't know about any creepy art work on the wall. I worked there too for a while bussing tables.

[greater englewood]

I am a resident of Greater Englewood and love the neighborhood. I've lived here about 5 years and am hoping that the neighborhood improves over time. It was great reading through the postings on this thread. I learned a lot about the area. I started a Facebook page for people interested in improving the neighborhood. Friend me at Facebook.com Greater Englewood.

[videojon]

Liberty Furniture is closing after 87 years.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-06-28/story/liberty-furniture-close-doors-after-87-years-jacksonville

[Dashing Dan]

When I left Jacksonville in 1975 Brinkman's was still going strong on Beach near University, i.e. across from the K-Mart.  If you brought in a beer can that they didn't already have on the wall, you'd get a free beer and the privilege of having your beer can added to their incredible collection.  A crowd of plannners used to go to Brinkman's on Fridays after work.

What happened to that place?

[mdyates]

Wow; just discovered this site and drank in the pictures and info.  Most post-date my tenure in Englewood (1959-1966) but a few struck a chord.  It is disappointing to see my old neighborhood in disrepair, which is evident when I look at my old street on GoogleEarth.  Plus, the houses are smaller and closer together than when I was a young kid (ha-ha-ha)!
I remember hearing the Englewood High band and football and cheerleading teams practicing from my yard.  I attended Mrs. Chappell's school for kindergarten and first grade and Englewood Elementary second and third grades.  There was also this fantastic playground (from a child's eye) that we would visit from Mrs. Chappell's school; they had all kinds of unusual play structures and in my memory this was at someone's home, certainly not a public park.  A fantastic place for a child to play.  Does anyone have any memory of a place like that in the early to mid '60's?
We shopped at Phillips Highway Plaza, my mom traded S&H green stamps and Plaid stamps, shopped at Winn-Dixie, used Tide detergent because it would suds well in the very hard (high mineral content) water.  I LOVED going to the Beach Blvd Pony Rides; what a treat!  And I would ride 'Big Red' some of the time.  We'd go to Krystal Burger (outside of Englewood, I believe) and listen to Nancy Sinatra sing 'These Boots Are Made For Walking' and watch the teenagers flirt with each other.  I was a mere 8 years old when my father passed and we moved to Charlotte to be close to family.  He worked at Platt Pontiac.
I-95 was just being built and there were plans to maybe build a place near Orlando that would be a larger version of Disneyland!  Now I see how close I-95 is to my old street, wow.
Thanks to all who posted info here.

[Debbie Thompson]

What street did you live on, MD?  I remember when Chappell's was over near the Spring Glen/Spring Park traffic circle, in a house, maybe theirs.  Wasn't it?  Or is my memory failing me?