Neighborhoods: Spring Park

[thelakelander]

^Or "South Jacksonville"/"Southside". The St. Nicholas case is interesting though, since the change on the maps doesn't seem to have followed a change in use by the residents. Where do you get your maps from?

That particular map came from Walkscore.com.

http://www.walkscore.com/FL/Jacksonville

Walkscore used the city's old neighborhoods map.  There used to be a PDF copy on COJ.net, during the Peyton Administration but I'm having trouble finding it now.

[reader01]

The train station that is now by the Cuban restaurant was originally furthur down Beach Blvd. across from SouthGate.  It was used by the Girl Scouts and was my Brownie Hut in the 50's.

[Noone]

Does anyone know anything about the new Urban Partners building on Beach? I want to say it was the old dance studio.

[Noone]

The address is 3236 Beach Blvd. Urban Partners. Nice building. But out of place?  Would this mean that the urban core boundaries extend into St. Nicholas and Spring Park?

[thelakelander]

St. Nicholas is a part of the pre-consolidated city.  Just prior to 1932, it was an extension of the City of South Jacksonville.

[Noone]

^Is that Urban Partners your building? It's a beautiful building. So what is the boundry if you will of the Urban Core on the Southside. Any chance that it extends to Pottsburg Creek?

[thelakelander]

It's not mine. The old city limit boundary was roughly Millers Creek to the east and just north of Phillips Mall on the south.

[Debbie Thompson]

The boundaries are probably correct, but people would rather say they live in St. Nicholas than Spring Park.  And I say that as someone who lived right nearby in Santa Monica, in the the Englewood area, for 35 years.  St. Nicholas is perceived as having more cache than Spring Park.  Similarly, people who live in the closer in part of Lakewood probably say they live in San Marco.  And I know people who live west of the ditch who say they live at the Beach.  :-)

[Tacachale]

Noone, it depends on what you consider the "urban core". Much of the area was part of South Jacksonville prior to 1932, when it was annexed by Jax. After that, I believe the city limits in this part of town stayed the same until consolidation.

I'm having a hard time finding a good map, but I think South Jacksonville's boundaries changed a time or two between its incorporation in 1907 and 1932. However, as Lake says by 1932, the part of St. Nicholas/Spring Park west of about Millers Creek was included (and was thus part of Jax afterward). There were a few other annexations after 1932 but not in this area specifically.

So, if the whole "Old City" is the urban core, then the western part of the neighborhood is in and the eastern part is out.

[PATSY/AUTUMN]

I think Wayne Wood's book on Jax architecture defines it pretty well.  (the boundaries)  I would look on there, but my copy is on loan.

[Noone]

Tacachale, Thanks for the explanation. So the Urban Partners building is in the Urban Core using the 1932 boundary. Interesting.
Again nice job with the reuse of the old dance studio.

[Tacachale]

Tacachale, Thanks for the explanation. So the Urban Partners building is in the Urban Core using the 1932 boundary. Interesting.
Again nice job with the reuse of the old dance studio.

Yes, I think I found it on Google Maps. That address is definitely within the old city.

[Debbie Thompson]

When we moved here in 1966, Emerson Street was the city limit.

[PATSY/AUTUMN]

Debbie, before that, the boundary was a little north of there.  It was behind our house and on Spring Park road it was right near Adirolf Road.  I remember it well.  A guy I went to school with was constantly being chased by the police for speeding.  He knew EXACTLY where the line was and made a point of heading there.  Back then, Jax Police couldn't cross into the county without permission

[Tacachale]

^I don't know about outrunning the cops to the city limits (sounds a little Smoky and the Banditish to me, and of course it wouldn't do any good with a sheriff's officer or state trooper), but the limits didn't go as far south as Emerson in Spring Park before 1968. That's probably a major reason why the layout is so ideosyncratic there. West of Hendricks, though, the city limits went farther south of Emerson, after the Colonial Manor area was annexed in 1937.