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| Formation | 1929 |
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| Type | private |
| Legal status | Nonprofit |
| Purpose | Archives |
| Headquarters | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Location |
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Region served | Duval County, Florida |
Executive Director | Alan J. Bliss, PH.D. |
Main organ | Board of Directors |
| Website | www.jaxhistory.org |
Jacksonville Historical Society (JHS) [1] is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Jacksonville, Florida, begun by 231 charter members on May 3, 1929, at the Carling Hotel. [2]
Henry Holland Buckman was its first president, and its first activity was to assemble a collection of historical memorabilia, including newspapers, photographs, documents, books and correspondence covering the first one hundred years of Jacksonville. The archive is housed at Jacksonville University, but the society is in discussions with the city to transfer the collection to the new Jacksonville Main Library, where it would complement the library's Florida collection. [2]
For its first six decades, the group was content to build an archive, publish booklets, provide research assistance and discuss the history of the first coast. There was nothing permanent—no building and the work was done by volunteers. This changed in 1988 after Sarah Van Cleve was elected president. The JHS became active in the community: the group secured office space, hired an executive director and began to raise funds for projects. It began publishing an extensive newsletter for members and expanded the board of directors to involve more people in the organization. The society began to identify endangered buildings that were being razed without consideration to historical significance. [2] [3]
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church was constructed in 1887 and was the only major church to survive Jacksonville's Great Fire of 1901. Residents in the area around the church left for the suburbs in the 1950s, and a new church was built in Arlington. It was named St. Andrews and was given the furnishings and memorials of the old St. Andrews, which was deconsecrated, closed and boarded up for decades. When Jacksonville was awarded an NFL franchise in 1993, the city purchased much of the land surrounding the Gator Bowl Stadium for use in the new Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, including the old church. The city gave the building to JHS on the condition that it be restored, but according to the JHS website, many people thought that the condition of the structure was beyond repair. [2] The society began a campaign to raise one million dollars, which was successful, thanks to a $242,000 preservation grant from the state of Florida in 1996, [4] and a challenge grant from the Weaver Foundation. [5] Restoration began in 1996 and was completed on April 18, 1998, with the structure becoming the new home of the Jacksonville Historical Society. [2] Although the JHS is no longer based in the church, it is still used as a popular venue for weddings, meetings, and other events.
Less than a year later, the society began its second restoration project – the relocation and renovation of the historic James E. Merrill House, built in 1879. The Queen Anne style building was scheduled for demolition in 1999, but the city moved it from Lafayette Street to A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and renovation work began. Funding for the project was secured from private donors in addition to city and state preservation grants. The 2002 plans for the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville placed the structure in left field, so it was moved again, this time next door to the Old St. Andrews Church. The work was completed in late 2005. The Victorian era house is intended to be a museum dedicated to shipbuilding on the St. Johns River. [2] [6] [7]
On August 10, 2009, the JHS announced the pending purchase of the Old St. Luke's Hospital and its conversion into a research and exhibition center. [8] [9] Old St. Luke's Hospital was successfully purchased by the Jacksonville Historical Society in 2012. [10] It is currently the location of the Jacksonville Historical Society's archives, library, and administrative offices. [11]
The Jacksonville Historical Society has owned the Florida Casket Company (also called the Casket Factory), constructed circa 1920, since 2012. [10] In 2019, the Jacksonville Historical Society began a campaign to renovate the building so it could be used for more than storage. [12] The Jacksonville Historical Society plans to use the space for a local music history museum, archival processing and storage, and as a venue. [13]
Jacksonville is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonville consolidated in 1968. It was the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020, and became the 10th largest city by population in 2023.
EverBank Stadium is an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL), and the headquarters of the professional wrestling promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH).
The Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts (JCPA) is a performing arts center located in Jacksonville, Florida. Situated along the Riverbank, the venue is known as the First Coast’s "premiere riverfront entertainment facility". Originally opening in 1962, the facility was renovated beginning in 1995 until 1997; with a grand re-opening on February 8, 1997. The center consists of three venues: a theatre; concert hall and recital hall. It is home to the Jacksonville Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the FSCJ Artist Series.
There are more than 500 neighborhoods within the area of Jacksonville, Florida, the largest city in the contiguous United States by area. These include Downtown Jacksonville and surrounding neighborhoods. Additionally, greater Jacksonville is traditionally divided into several major sections with amorphous boundaries: Northside, Westside, Southside, and Arlington, as well as the Jacksonville Beaches.
The Dyal–Upchurch Building is a six-story, 43,747-square-foot historic building in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located at 4 East Bay Street, and was designed by architect Henry John Klutho. On April 17, 1980, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The St. James Building is a historic building in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, currently housing Jacksonville City Hall. It was designed by architect Henry John Klutho and opened in 1912. One of many structures in downtown Jacksonville designed by Klutho after the Great Fire of 1901, it is considered his Prairie School masterpiece.
Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in the "Prairie School" style. He helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville, Florida after the Great Fire of 1901—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeast—by designing many of the new buildings built after the disaster. This period lasted until the beginning of World War I. Several Jacksonville architects began their careers in the offices of Klutho's firm.
The former St. Andrew's Episcopal Church building, also known as Old St. Andrew's Event Venue, is an historic building located at 317 Florida Avenue in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It was originally an Episcopal church, but closed when the parish relocated to the suburbs in 1960. On May 4, 1976, the edifice was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In the 1990s it was purchased by the City of Jacksonville and turned over to the Jacksonville Historical Society (JHS), and now serves as an event venue managed by the society.
The Jessie Ball duPont Center is a nonprofit complex in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The building served as the main branch of the Jacksonville Public Library system from 1965 until 2005, when it was replaced by the current facility. The library was named for W. Haydon Burns, who served as Mayor of Jacksonville for fifteen years and also served two years as Governor of Florida. The Haydon Burns Library replaced the Jacksonville Free Public Library, which was built in 1905 and designed by Henry John Klutho of New York City. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.
The former, now permanently closed, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum was a museum in Jacksonville, Florida, one of ten Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums in the United States, all housed in repurposed old buildings. Other locations of Karpeles Museums include Buffalo, NY; Duluth, MN; Santa Barbara, CA; Tacoma, WA; Alvin, TX; Rock Island, IL; Gloversville, NY; Lake Mary, FL; Pittsburgh, PA; and St. Augustine, FL. Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums display manuscripts and documents from the private collection of David and Marsha Karpeles, the world's largest privately owned collection.
The Laura Street Trio is a group of three historic buildings located on and near Laura Street in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The Trio consists of two perpendicularly arranged skyscrapers, the Florida Life Building and the Bisbee Building, plus a third structure, the Old Florida National Bank, which is framed by the other two in a unique pattern. The three buildings, constructed in the wake of the Great Fire of 1901, are architecturally significant, but are currently endangered.
James Weldon Johnson Park is a 1.54-acre (6,200 m2) public park in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city.
The Five Points Theatre, formerly known as Sun-Ray Cinema, Riverside Theater and 5 Points Theatre, is a historic two-screen movie theater in Jacksonville, Florida. The first theater in Florida equipped to show talking pictures, it opened in March 1927 in the Five Points district of the Riverside and Avondale neighborhood. In January 2025 the theatre will be reopened as a music venue called FIVE.
St. Vincent's Medical Center Southside is a not-for-profit, faith-based hospital located in the southern part of Jacksonville, Florida. It is a member of St. Vincent's HealthCare and is affiliated with Ascension Health. Founded as St. Luke's Hospital in 1873, it was Jacksonville's first private hospital and is Florida's oldest private hospital.
Riverside and Avondale are two adjacent and closely associated neighborhoods, alternatively considered one continuous neighborhood, of Jacksonville, Florida. The area is primarily residential, but includes some commercial districts, including Five Points, the King Street District, and the Shoppes of Avondale.
San Marco is a neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida, south of Downtown across the St. Johns River. The neighborhood was formerly the independent city of South Jacksonville until it was annexed by Jacksonville in 1932. The neighborhood is primarily residential, with an integrated commercial sector known as San Marco Square.
Merrill House Museum is a Victorian home operated by the Jacksonville Historical Society as a museum in Jacksonville, Florida. The home was built in 1879 at 229 Lafayette Street. It is in the Queen Anne style with Eastlake architecture features. In 2000, the house was designated a local historic landmark.
The architecture of Jacksonville is a combination of historic and modern styles reflecting the city's early position as a regional center of business. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, there are more buildings built before 1967 in Jacksonville than any other city in Florida, though few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901. Numerous buildings in the city have held state height records, dating as far back as 1902, and last holding a record in 1981.
Edward Ball Building is a 141 feet, 11-floor office building at 214 North Hogan Street in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It presently serves as the Jacksonville City Hall Annex, housing several departments that were displaced in 1997 when city government moved to the St. James Building.
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