Jacksonville, Florida
The Florida Historical Society 2022 Public History Forum and the 33rd Annual Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society Conference are being presented together May 19-21, at the Hilton Conference Center in Gainesville. Registration for the conference is now open at myfloridahistory.org where you will also find a Read More …
Today in 1948 – President Harry S. Truman attended the dedication ceremony of the Charles O. Andrews Causeway, bisecting Lake Estelle in Orlando.. Andrews represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1936 until his death in 1946. He was born in Ponce de Leon on Read More …
Sallye B. Mathis was one of the first Black women to be elected and serve on our City Council in 1967. Locally, Ms. Mathis is honored by the local NAACP Jacksonville Branch by naming their annual community service award in her honor, as well as Read More …
Happy Birthday to Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve! It was 34 years ago today when President Ronald Reagan signed the bill that established this National Park Service preserve, named after the Timucua who inhabited the area for thousands of years. With more than 46,000 acres Read More …
“Life’s Most Persistent and Urgent Question Is: What Are You Doing for Others?” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the Civil Rights Movement(link is external) from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. His skillful rhetoric, iconic Read More …
African American landmarks and legacies can be found at a variety of locations in Jacksonville. While some of these sites can be visited, other listings are marked “private” and are not open to the public. 1960s Civil Rights Historic Site Marker James Weldon Johnson Park, Read More …
The City of Jacksonville invites the community to celebrate the life, legacy, and service of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the 35th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast, presented by Florida Blue virtually on Friday, January 14, 2022. The virtual event will feature Mayor Lenny Read More …
FRIDAY 8 a.m. — Virtual presentation of 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Empowerment Breakfast, hosted by Jacksonville chapter of NAACP. Tickets are free; to register, go to events.blackbirdrsvp.com/35th-annual-mlk-jr-community-empowerment-virtual-breakfast-jacksonville-branch-naacp. 8:30 a.m. — Virtual presentation of 35th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, hosted by city of Jacksonville. Tickets Read More …
Happy Birthday to prominent author, anthropologist, and key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston. In the late 1930s, Hurston ran the “negro unit” of the Federal Writers Project, whose offices were in the Clara White Mission right here in Jacksonville. Learn more about Read More …
The home of John Ringling opened to the public on this date in 1946. Ringling was one of five brothers who owned and operated the Ringling Brothers Circus, known at the time as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” John Ringling became one of the wealthiest Read More …
Willie Browne lived alone in a cabin on 361 acres of land his father purchased in 1884. This pristine patch of woods overlooked the marshes east of the Fort Caroline National Memorial. Browne continually resisted the urging of developers to sell the property, and upon Read More …
Today, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the annual selection of 25 films into the Library of Congress National Film Registry. Films are selected based on their cultural, historic and/or aesthetic importance, and must be at least 10 years old. The 2021 National Film Registry Read More …
In 1562, French explorers landed on Florida’s northeast coast and traveled up the St. Johns River into present-day Jacksonville. Two years later, on June 29, 1564, French colonists led by Captain René Goulaine de Laudonnière (1529-74) constructed one of the first European forts in what Read More …
Residents of Jacksonville experienced tremors from a small magnitude earthquake on this date in 1900. At 11:15 a.m. residents reported seismic activity that lasted no more than 10 seconds and caused little damage to city buildings. Although earthquakes are rare in Florida, a few quakes Read More …
Marie Louise Gato was the 19-year-old daughter of Jacksonville cigar factory owner Gabriel Hidalgo Gato. At the time of her death Jacksonville was home to 15 cigar manufacturing companies, her father’s company, Modelo Cigar Manufacturing, was the largest. She was shot five times as she Read More …
The residents of Washington Irving’s Sleepy Hollow had their Albany Post Road, which the Headless Horseman rode upon. Jacksonville has Greenbriar Road. Greenbriar Road runs from Mandarin toward Fruit Cove and Switzerland. It was a dirt road for many years, sand actually. The road wasn’t Read More …
There are woods filled with ancient oaks across the street from Fernandina Beach High School. Those woods hold the burial site of a young girl. A girl who was executed for witchcraft hundreds of years before the school was built. Some spins on the legend Read More …
Yesterday, the Singleton Senior Center hosted its Grand Re-Opening event. During COVID, the center underwent extensive aesthetic and functional renovations and Saturday was a celebration of all the hard work that has gone into the center. The seniors heard the history of Mary L. Singleton, Read More …