The Jaxson

The Jaxson is a multimedia initiative created by Modern Cities in partnership with WJCT Public Broadcasting. It focuses on urban life and culture in Florida’s First Coast. This project builds on Modern Cities' commitment to exploring urbanism in a detailed, local context, offering an in-depth look at Jacksonville and the surrounding areas in Northeast Florida.

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Before & After: The S-Line Urban Greenway

1 week ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

History of the S-Line Urban GreenwayIn 1886, the Jacksonville Belt Railroad was constructed between Springfield and the Jacksonville Terminal area in LaVilla to connect the Fernandina & Jacksonville Railroad to the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Railroad. The railroad was acquired by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) system in 1902.
When the Machines Stopped: Jax’s Forgotten Industry

2 weeks ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

American Motors Export Company801 West 15th StreetThe American Motors Export Company plant in Northwest Jacksonville. | Florida State ArchivesIn 1921, American Motors opened in Jacksonville with the goal of manufacturing the Innes automobile. The car was the brainchild of Henry L. Innes and was intended as a revival of the short-lived Simms automobile, which had been produced in Atlanta, Georgia, only a year earlier in 1920.
Hakimian Holdings Unveils Plans for 245 Riverside

2 weeks ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Mike Field

Hakimian Holdings has announced plans for a dynamic redevelopment at 245 Riverside Avenue in Downtown Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood. The proposed project includes a two-story retail and office addition as well as a one-story riverfront restaurant, aiming to enhance the site’s connection to the Northbank Riverwalk and contribute to a more pedestrian-friendly Riverside Avenue.
History of the West Jacksonville Rail Yard

3 weeks ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

A coal locomotive engine at the shops in 1941. | State Archives of FloridaIn the late 19th century, the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (FC&P) established its West Jacksonville rail yard and maintenance shops on the city’s western edge. In 1903, the Seaboard Air Line Railway (SAL) acquired FC&P and expanded the site, making it one of Jacksonville’s largest employers by 1909, with over 1,000 workers.
The story of Dr. Walker-Brown' Business College

1 month ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

The BeginningStudents of Walker Business College, c. 1916 | State Archives of FloridaWith her first husband Richard Wendell Walker, Dr. Julia S. Walker-Brown founded Walker’s Business College in 1916. Julia Saphronia was born in Georgia and attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Richard W. Walker was from Kansas and had previously attended Fairmont University in Wichita. The school’s first location was in LaVilla, across the street from the Masonic Temple at 417.5 Broad Street.
Exploring the First Coast: Ravine Gardens State Park

1 month ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

Designed by landscape architect Richard Forester, the park was built by the City of Palatka between 1933 and 1939 through the Works Progress Administration. Covering 57-acres, the park is a Northeast Florida destination for picnicking, jogging, hiking and biking. It is also known for hosting the annual Florida Azalea Festival the first weekend of March, when nearly 100,000 azaleas planted bloom.
Before and After: Before and After: The rebirth of Down

1 month ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

The history of Downtown HastingsHastings is named in honor of Thomas Horace Hastings. Hastings was the cousin of FEC railroad magnate and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. At the time, with lavish hotels in St. Augustine and Ormond Beach, Flagler asked Hastings to start a farm to grow food for his guests. In 1890, Hastings and his family settled on 1,569 acres owned by the Model Land Company.
How A Skate Park Was Built Under A Bridge

1 month ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Mike Field

In the Spring of 2013, the team behind the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) were working with members of City Council to obtain funding to create additional parking to serve the bustling weekly market. Plans were already underway to raise private funds and convert a portion of Riverside Park into the John Gorrie Dog Park. A section of that dog park would be built underneath the Fuller Warren Bridge overlooking the abandoned Public School Number 4.
5 Forgotten early 20th century Black-owned businesses

1 month ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

1. Afro American Investment CompanyThe 1925 plat of West Augustine’s Afro American Subdivision. | State of FloridaThe Afro American Investment Company was organized by Abraham Lincoln Lewis and William H. Lee during the height of the 1920s Florida Land Boom.
The Great Migration & Black Jacksonville

2 months ago | thejaxsonmag.com | Ennis Davis

1. Jacksonville was an early 20th century Black metropolisDinner hour on Jacksonville’s riverfront docks during the first decade of the 20th century. | Library of CongressFounded by Isaiah D. Hart in 1822, Jacksonville grew into an antebellum river port where enslaved African laborers worked as loggers, turpentiners, pilots, stevedores, carpenters, masons, and mill hands. It was also a hub for shipping agricultural products from surrounding plantations to market.