Urban Parks: Hemming Plaza

[Metro Jacksonville]

Urban Parks: Hemming Plaza



Located at 135 Monroe Street West, the 1.54 acre Hemming Plaza is the oldest public park in Jacksonville.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/831

[gradco2004]

Wow! We actually look like a city with a beating heart.

[Jason]

Ditto that.

Great photo tour.

[Coolyfett]

Good Stuff!!! Man that Civil War Statue has seen ALOT!!! Fires, Riots, Presidents, you name it.

[comncense]

It's a shame that in the "Hemming Plaza Now" pictures, the only reason it seems alive there is because of that Thursday "Make a Scene Downtown" thing. Now that that event has moved to a different location, I'm sure it'll go back to being overrun with the homeless and the once a month traffic from Art Walk. It's depressing that the city doesn't actively use Hemming Plaza more.

[BridgeTroll]

Every Friday afternoon there are vendors selling food, a farmers market, and sometimes music...

[roninvirginia]

There used to be a booth on one corner where you went to purchase bus tokens. They were metal, about the size of a quarter. Then they went to thick paper, sold in long strings. As children, we rode the city bus to and from school, Englewood Elementary, each day. It was a monthly trip that we took downtown to purchase the tokens.

[Tom Joad]

[Ocklawaha]

There used to be a booth on one corner where you went to purchase bus tokens. They were metal, about the size of a quarter. Then they went to thick paper, sold in long strings. As children, we rode the city bus to and from school, Englewood Elementary, each day. It was a monthly trip that we took downtown to purchase the tokens.

YES! I remember that! I have some of those tokens, mine are closer to a dime in size and each is stamped "City Coach Lines". They are silver, with a high content of tin? to prevent them from tarnishing. We MJ types ought to keep our eyes open for ANY Florida-Georgia tokens. Tokens are cheap to purchase and collect but hard to find, they really should have a place in our Streetcar Museum. Shall I charge us with their capture, preservation and future loan for display?

CCL was the company that took over after Motor Transit Went "bust". It's really funny because the whole let's sell out the streetcars and replace them with "modern" flexible buses concept was built on their economy of operation. In every single case, in over 60 American Cities, the companies "Failed" and were hocked off to the public transit authorities. Of course the bus, tire, fuel, and highway divisions of the parent companies kept right on selling their goods to the municipal public, LONG after the "economical" operating arm of the same culprits vanished and left all 60+ of us holding the keys.

Anyone interested in this convoluted family tree it starts with:

General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum and Greyhound Lines are the root or "Owners".
National City Lines, is the jointly held mass transit holding company.
Motor Transit Company, is the company held by NCL as an operating division (one of several)
City Coach Lines, is a "lesser owned" operating arm that appeared after the government sued for destruction of rail infrastructure, and jailed a handful of conspirators.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

Does anyone else remember the old New York style news stand? I can't put a finger on where it was, but I remember looking at the apparent disorganized array of news papers.

OCKLAWAHA