Jacksonville was named for General Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of Florida who, incidentally, never visited Jacksonville.
Duval Street, like the county, was named for William Pope Duval, the first Territorial Governor of Florida.
Isiah Hart, who founded Jacksonville, named two of the city’s first streets after his daughters, Julia and Laura.
James Weldon Johnson Park (previously Hemming Park) is the city’s oldest public park
Fort Caroline is a near full-scale rendering created to memorialize the 16th century French effort to establish a permanent colony in Florida, the actual location of the original fort is unknown.
The fire of 1901, sparked from a chimney and igniting a fiber factory, destroyed the heart of the city – 146 city blocks and 2,368 buildings were destroyed. Some 8,677 residents were left homeless, and seven people died. The damage was $15 million – $2 billion today. It is the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire, and the 1906 San Francisco fire.
In the early 1900s the Ostrich Farm, located on what is today’s Southbank of Downtown, was the city’s biggest tourist draw.
In 1935, A.L. Lewis opened American Beach, a retreat for African Americans who were refused entry to public beaches.
In 1916, over 30 movie companies called Jacksonville home with stars such as Oliver Hardy and Fatty Arbuckle making movies in town. Citizens became fed up with the noise and the industry moved to California.
The first Technicolor film, “The Gulf Between” was filmed here in 1917.