6 Lost Districts of Downtown Jacksonville

[Metro Jacksonville]

6 Lost Districts of Downtown Jacksonville



A district is defined as an area of a country or city, regarded as a distinct unit because of a particular characteristic. In an era where the pedestrian was king in Jacksonville, downtown was loaded with distinct districts-- many of which are no longer with us. Here are a few lost districts that you may not be familiar with.


Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-may-6-lost-districts-of-downtown-jacksonville

[Noone]

Love the pictures depicting the LOST working Waterfront District.

[Gunnar]

Was that an intentional typo ?

By the 1970s, many of the district's surviving theaters made ends meat by showing porn and kung fu movies.

[thelakelander]

Haha, you're awake this morning!

[mtraininjax]

Nice pictures, On the last set of "White Row", did I miss the old Post Office Downtown? That was a beautiful building on Forsyth.

[urbanlibertarian]

Thanks MJ.  Nice article.

[RattlerGator]

Small nitpick -- LaVilla, the Harlem of the South? We really need to stop that. I know some folks said it, but they (local boosters) probably said it about at least a dozen other locales all around the South. LaVilla was clearly not the Harlem of the South. Florida was *the* smallest Southern state until the 1950 census I do believe. Just stop it.

The "Harlem of Florida," yes.

[thelakelander]

^Actually, Harlem should probably be called the LaVilla of the North. Historically speaking what happened in Harlem took place in LaVilla a decade earlier. Much of LaVilla's population ended up in Harlem as a result of the Great Migration. Many of the key LaVilla figures ended up being key figures associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem gets the press because it happened to be the largest urban black neighborhood in the world at the time. Thus, the "across the tracks" stuff being ignored in places like LaVilla, ended up being exposed on an international scale.

[Gunnar]

Haha, you're awake this morning!

I'm in a different time zone (+6 hours) :-)

[thelakelander]

Also, Jax/LaVilla happened to be a somewhat progressive place for blacks during the late 1800s/turn of the century, moreso than its deep south counterparts farther north.

[mtraininjax]

Found it.



And it was hiding on your site all along....

[Tacachale]

There are a couple of places that deserve the title "Harlem of the South", and LaVilla certainly has a place along with Miami's Colored Town/Overtown, Richmond's Jackson Ward, and Memphis's Beale Street area.

As Lakelander says, one of the differences with Jacksonville (and to an extent Miami) from other Southern cities with black enclaves was that the wider community was comparatively more tolerant, or rather, comparatively less intolerant, toward its black citizens for some time after Reconstruction. This was heavily influenced by local business interests, who relied on Northern investment, connections and tourism. The erosion of mobility and agency for African-Americans in places like LaVilla in the early 20th century led many of the best and brightest to move to Harlem, where they created a Renaissance. When people like James Weldon Johnson and Zora Neale Hurston came from Jacksonville, it's no stretch to call it the Harlem of the South.

[pierre]

I like these features that showcase parts of Jacksonville's past. But damn if they aren't depressing as hell too.

[Gunnar]

I like these features that showcase parts of Jacksonville's past. But damn if they aren't depressing as hell too.

+1

[thelakelander]

I have a few more in the works that will make you guys sick then! I'm working on a new series focusing on the Slabs of Downtown and the stories behind them.....



There's also another story running this week that will detail the rise and fall of downtown's Ocean Street market (Jax's version of Pike Place)...