Jacksonville's Ghost Town: Yukon

[peestandingup]

Doing a Google Maps walk through, there's some kind of RV (or camping) community over there amongst the abandoned trailers.

http://maps.google.com/maps?near=Jacksonville,+FL&geocode=CdgIGAl6Z2vgFRjVzgEdnQgi-ynrr87xFrfliDHix_yWOH3NxA&q=yukon+baptist+church&f=l&sll=30.332583,-81.655884&sspn=2.211651,4.147339&ie=UTF8&hq=yukon+baptist+church&hnear=&ll=30.233423,-81.70046&spn=0.269037,0.518417&z=12&layer=c&cbll=30.233335,-81.700266&panoid=lLgmKZR_zObfOwwaExVgpQ&cbp=12,324.41,,0,11.83

[Nockatee]

Hello to all who have posted here.
I was so pleased to find this site and the many tidbits of history about Yukon.
Being a member of the Justiss family, I have nearly 65 years of connection with the community. From my parents building a business there over 70 years ago to presently re-establishing ownership of the property; we come full circle.
I look forward to sharing some "Yukon Tales" with you as time goes by.
One good reference to start with is the opening pages of the book "The Right Stuff".
The author's description of the crashing of a jet fighter in the woods near Dewey Park awoke memories of going back into those woods with my Dad. I can still smell the aviation fuel and visualize wreckage hanging from the trees. Strong memories for a small boy.
My screen name "Nockatee" comes from the name of a canoe we had as kids growing up in Florida.

[north miami]

I haven't paddled the McGirts portion over in Argyle, but the Blanding - Collins segment and much of the run to Timuquana is as you say, amazing.  It SHOULD rank with the Wekiva or Econ Rivers as nearly pristine. If we could halt development on it's banks and allow nature to continue to claim large segments we would have an IN TOWN attraction as cool as the Okefenokee.

The upper Pottsburg Creek, Beach to JTB, would be a paddlers paradise. There are probably others, perhaps the upper Trout? Mount Pleasant Creek, and believe it or not some short segments of Hogans, McCoy's and Long Branch Creek (Remember Long Branch is the Creek that JTA said would be like "bridging the Nile" when discussing rebuilding the old railroad)

State of Florida Conservation and Recreation Lands McGirts Stream Valley proposal was dashed on a couple of fronts.Quite properly reflective of natural creek system,the proposed C.A.R.L. Footprint was rather extensive,reaching down in to Clay County,Little Black Creek watershed- Red Flag alert to the future roadway Boosters.McGirts system wetlands were also viewed as regional mitigation bank source.During the Stream Valley proposal era the Guana C.A.R.L. Project gained foothold,the single most expensive at that time and considered NE Florida's fair share for a time.Outcome for McGirts could have been different had there been community support.Ghost Town waterway for sure! Ortega resident Ralph Wickersham was a key local Stream Valley driver.
My guess is few reading this ever heard of the McGirts Stream Valley concept.



OCKLAWAHA

[Nockatee]

LESSONS FROM OSCAR- About tattoos and tying your shoes.
As a youngster, there was always a retired Navy man around the trailer park doing maintenance and repairs. One old fellow was named Oscar. Can't remember his last name, but I remember his bald head and multiple tattoos on his arms.
He had a soft spot for us little guys and kept a watchful eye over us.
Oscar taught my buddy Matt and I to tie our shoes on the steps of the old store...

My Grand Father had a grocery store in that building and it has always been called "The Store".
Oscar would show us how to tie our shoe laces and then have a competition to see who was the fastest. The reward was a piece of DoubleBubble gum. The loser always got a piece too.
We were fascinated with the array of tattoos that adorned his arms. The designs were typical of what a sailor on shore leave in some port might come home with. But at his age the ink had faded and spread out in the skin, loosing the details. I can still remember him saying "don't go and spend your money on these things. Just look at what happens to them..not worth it!". Now "tats" are hip and the cool thing these days. I wonder how many people getting inked up will have Oscar's regrets some day.
More stories about "The Store" later.....

[north miami]

so glad I  done did " grow up" in South Florida where by the time I would appear as an eight year old on the "Skipper Chuck " show we had experienced a lifestyle and landscapes that would become protected from "development" and in fact become a template for future action.Yea, "Template" is a big word.

Key Biscayne.Everglades.Big Cypress.Buffer x2222222
we named our personal small craft for features ( mostly) eventually preserved as we had done did known them.
Not in my case- My Sears Jon Boat was named "Ojus"-a growing area between my Native NorthMiami and the Ocean.
Better yet,an awareness of Jacksonville,thanks to dinner time conversations would prove easily prophetic.

Thank God the various derivatives of Nocotee never hit my childhood eardrums.

[diveonme2]

Hey Nockatee,
I  spent my younger years growing up in Justiss Trailer Park.  My granny was Anne Scarborough.  She always  had the vegetable garden near the water tower. If you were part of the family then you would be justiss's son and would have had a 68 GTO.  you would have been 20 and i was 5, but i remember your mother being angry that you cut the back wheel wells to get bigger tires on.  As I remember the  woods from the old base housing, there were alot of old cars parked in the trees.  I started going back there last year and everything seems to be cleaned.  If you have any additional pictures of the  housing that was cleared in 1962 i would appreciate this.

[NavyGuyAN]

Local lore says the Ortega was dredged to an extreme depth and submarine pins were built behind the Yukon Community early in the fight. I know there are old piles out in the river, but never found so much as a trail down to the water... The water IS very, very, deep.

The water back there is indeed very deep.  I never heard the submarine stories.  I'm intrigued enough to get the depth finder out now.  Ock, where are the pins located?

I fish back there.  Unfortunately, the bridge at Collins is very low and there are some huge stumps on the other side of the bridge, so getting boat traffic on the Orange Park side of the bridge is difficult.  There is still a big swimming hole/boat landing back there on the 'Jacksonville' side.  It is accessible by boat, or by 4 wheeler off Collins.

Did anyone ever used to frequent the 'Flight Deck' across the street from Yukon where the Target is now?

BTW, if you havent been to JL Trents and you like good battered fish... go!

Hey FIELDAFM...The Piles are actually on both sides of the river directly in-line with Blaine St. in Yukon and 118th St. on the otherside...Using "Bing Maps" you can see the piles. According to NOAA Chart 11492 the piles look like there around the area where there is underwater pipe-lines, assuming the building at the end of 118th St. is a pump-house/building.

[acme54321]

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=4&lon=-81.7022464899676&lat=30.23117128638059&year=1960

[Ocklawaha]

Here's the 1943 Navy aerial of Yukon. If the Submarines were ever there it would have been just prior to the war in 1941 (we were already in an undeclared shooting fight with Nazi submarines that were taking out our convoys to resupply Europe. The danger became apparent well before Pearl Harbor.

On May 21, the SS Robin Moor, an American vessel carrying no military supplies, was stopped by U-69 750 miles (1,210 km) west of Freetown, Sierra Leone. After its passengers and crew were allowed thirty minutes to board lifeboats, U-69 torpedoed, shelled, and sank the ship. The survivors then drifted without rescue or detection for up to eighteen days. When news of the sinking reached the U.S., few shipping companies felt truly safe anywhere.

Sinking

Gulfamerica's maiden voyage was to take her from Port Arthur, Texas to New York, carrying a cargo of 101,500 barrels of furnace oil. On the night of 10 April 1942, she was traveling unescorted about 5 miles (8.0 km) off Jacksonville, Florida. She was illuminated by the lights of the Jacksonville Beach resort, which at that time was not observing a blackout. Just after 10 pm, the decision was made to stop steaming an evasive zigzag course. Twenty minutes later, at 10:20, she was sighted by German submarine U-123 who fired a torpedo at her.

The torpedo struck at the #7 tank on the starboard side and caused a large explosion and subsequent fire. The engines were stopped and the order to abandon ship was given, as the Gulfamerica sent distress calls. U-123 then opened fire with her deck gun, firing about 12 shells into the engine room on the port side in an attempt to bring down the radio antenna and the anti-aircraft gun. The evacuation descended into confusion, causing a lifeboat to capsize, while another with the master and ten crewmen hurriedly pulled away in ten minutes. Ten minutes later another boat left with only three men aboard, while three others abandoned ship on a liferaft, later picking up two men from the water.

Five men were killed by the torpedo blast or the gunfire, with 14 men drowning after they had entered the water. A total of two officers, two armed guards and 15 crewmen were killed in the sinking. The survivors were all rescued by US Coast Guard patrol boats and taken to Mayport, Florida.

I would guess that if any part of the old story is true it might be that the plan was in place, and some roads or other works were completed and then canceled due to the changing tide of the war. The aerial photo from 1943 does seem to show a roadway that is lightly overgrown running straight back to the Ortega River.  A close look at the new aerials seem to show a shadow of a canal or boat basin running NE-SW from the river in the NW corner of the Yukon-Dewey Park Housing area.

One last comment, note that south of Yukon is a well defined area of trees and below that appears to be a small community of farms and homes. IT WAS. Up through the 1970's this little farming community existed with several dozen houses and at least one store. In the 1950's the only thing I ever remember it being called was 'The Colored Section.'  My dad had several friends and employees from 'The Section' and said that these families once owned all of the land from Collins Road to Timuquana.  Dad had some spec property in the new neighborhood 'Ortega Hills' and NOTHING would grow on about half of it. One day he was telling this story to an older black gentleman farmer, and the old man laughed and said, "Oh Mr. Robert, ain't nothing ever going to grow there, don't you know the revenuers busted up the biggest moonshine still in the county right there on that spot, that's the richest dirt in Duval." There was a cemetery south of the original Wedgewood Apartments just west of the tracks off Ortega Hills Drive which seems to be gone today. Many of the old stones dated into the 1800's.

OCKLAWAHA

[north miami]

Check out that 1943 aerial.....a precious parcel dangling between past and present.
West side of the creek,undeveloped.

Notice the upland/wetland interface.The uplands have been cleared,the lighter color sandy soil evident.

Would have been a dandy conservation/recreation parcel...on par with the very best of today's showcase Conservation Lands.
Or semi rural neighborhood.Or.......

By the 1970's the exodus was to Orange Park.And McGirts would be further and further chipped away at.
Today nearby neighborhoods are often dangerous,natural system recreation,visual scenery management compromised.

Just think if today,by magic we could bring back the 1943 McGirts system,and decide on efficacious use.

I should probably keep such introspection to myself.

[acme54321]

Ock, according to COJ GIS there is a parcel to the west of the apartments on the north side of Avent Dr that belongs to the Yukon Cemetery Assoc.  So the cemetery may still be buried in those woods.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.215827,-81.705731&sll=30.215525,-81.70522&sspn=0.004366,0.005681&num=1&t=h&vpsrc=0&z=18

[acme54321]

Street view of trails going into cemetery parcel.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.215827,-81.705731&ll=30.215238,-81.705655&spn=0.002199,0.00284&sll=30.215510,-81.706302&sspn=0.004366,0.005681&layer=c&cbp=13,349.56,,0,6.97&cbll=30.215239,-81.70553&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=0&panoid=f0yQqij4Rc8p4d29876OzA

[Ocklawaha]

There was once a little foot bridge over the deep ditch behind Railey Circle that led directly into the Cemetery. There was an open grave with brick walls and floor but nobody home. Last time I hiked into the woods there I couldn't find a sign of anything, it had all been so vandalized it wasn't even recognizable.

Allowing Ortega Bluff to encroach on the river was really a big mistake, however the rest of those remaining wetlands could probably be saved. If we can keep our highway crazed governor and Clay County's Roadway Harmony Choir from screwing things up until sanity returns we'll all be better off. As a teen I drew up a concept for a narrow gauge rail line from Yukon to Blanding that hugged the River Valley, in retrospect as a light-rail link extending on into Jacksonville it would probably be highly successful. A large percentage of Meadowbrook-Bellair and Argyle work at NAS Jax offering a solid traffic base.


For some weird reason my computer won't pull up the Google Maps but a closeup of this same scene on Google clearly shows what appears to be the outline of some sort of basin running NE-SW from the northern most marked creek in this photo, straight off the end of Blaine Street. While I don't think it had anything to do with submarines, it sure looks like it was a channel with some sort of berm along the edges.


This is the aerial of the old Black Community located between Ortega Hills and Yukon. I imagine the cemetery belonged to this community even though it was south of the Wedgewood Apartments. I've noted some of the old buildings that still stand out in these woods. The roads as shown on the maps are incorrect to the original community. As I recall it there were maybe 20 homes back in these trees, including a store and what might have been some sort of club. I'm amazed at how much is still visible on the maps and it might be fun to do an MJ tour of the old place, I bet we'd learn a lot.

OCKLAWAHA

[NavyGuyAN]

Thanks Ock!....for the maps and info. I was planning on talking a hike out there at the end of Blaine street yesterday but didnt make it, plan on doing it today (Friday) mid-morning and figure I'd snap a couple of shots. I probably wont make a kayak trip over there til the end of the month beginning of next.

[NavyGuyAN]

Street view of trails going into cemetery parcel.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.215827,-81.705731&ll=30.215238,-81.705655&spn=0.002199,0.00284&sll=30.215510,-81.706302&sspn=0.004366,0.005681&layer=c&cbp=13,349.56,,0,6.97&cbll=30.215239,-81.70553&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=0&panoid=f0yQqij4Rc8p4d29876OzA

ACME: I drove by there the other day and the trails look like someone has been ATV/4-Wheeling back in the woods. I could be wrong though, but thats the first thing that came to my mind...will stop by there again today and check it out.