External links
- Mayoral Campaign Speech of J.E.T. Bowden
- Jacksonville's Red Light District
- Jacksonville's Most Beloved Madame
- Ward Street Brothels, via JaxHistory
- Carry Nation, the Axe Lady, via JaxHistory
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The Ward Street Bordello District, or "The Line" was a district of over 64 bordellos which were located along Ward Street in Jacksonville, Florida, US.
Also known as 'resorts' at the close of the 19th century, all of the Bordellos of Ward Street survived the Great Fire of 1901, and played an integral part in the rebuilding and development of Jacksonville, Florida through the first part of the 20th century.
Notable Brothel owner Cora Crane built her signature establishment, "The Court" along Ward Street, and Temperance Movement leader, Carry A. Nation made a celebrated appearance after which she declared the city a 'Demonocracy'.
Mayor J.E.T. Bowden, who had been the Mayor of Greater Jacksonville during the Great Fire of 1901 successfully came out of retirement and won a landslide re-election on the single issue of protecting the Bordellos and keeping them legal.
The Bordellos remained legitimate businesses in Jacksonville until 1953, and the last of the Grand Houses were demolished in 1981.
The Senate
The New York House
Russian Belle Built and owned by Belle Orloff, the Russian Madame famous for sending Carry A. Nation packing after an attempted raid on the part of the Temperance Crusader.
The Turkish Bath
The Court Built and owned by Cora Crane, it was the grandest of the Grande Dames.
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Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits. As of 2020, Jacksonville's population is 949,611, making it the 13th most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in the Southeast, and the most populous city in the South outside of the state of Texas. The Jacksonville metropolitan area has a population of 1,523,615 and is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Florida.
The Brewster Hospital building is a historic U.S. hospital in the LaVilla neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. It is located at 915 West Monroe Street. On May 13, 1976, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
John Wellborn Martin was an American politician who served as the 24th Governor of Florida, from 1925 to 1929. He also served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 1917 to 1923. Born in Plainfield in Marion County, Florida, Martin and his family moved to Jacksonville in 1899. Despite only about four years of formal education, he studied law and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1914. Three years later, Martin ran for Mayor of Jacksonville and easily defeated incumbent J. E. T. Bowden, becoming the city's youngest mayor at age 32. He was easily re-elected twice in landslide victories and served three consecutive terms.
The Levee District was the red-light district of Chicago from the 1880s until 1912, when police raids shut it down. The district, like many frontier town red-light districts, got its name from its proximity to wharves in the city. The Levee district encompassed four blocks in Chicago's South Loop area, between 18th and 22nd streets. It was home to many brothels, saloons, dance halls, and the famed Everleigh Club. Prostitution boomed in the Levee District, and it was not until the Chicago Vice Commission submitted a report on the city's vice districts that it was shut down.
The city of Jacksonville, Florida began to grow in the late 18th century as Cow Ford, settled by British colonists. Its major development occurred in the late nineteenth century, when it became a winter vacation destination for tourists from the North and Midwest. Its development was halted or slowed by the Great Fire of 1901, the Florida Land Bust of the 1920s, and the economic woes of the 1960s and 70s. Since the late 20th century, the city has experienced steady growth, with a new federal building constructed in downtown in 2003.
The Hotel Roosevelt fire, on December 29, 1963, was the worst fire that Jacksonville, Florida, had seen since the Great Fire of 1901, and it contributed to the worst one-day death toll in the city's history: 22 people died, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The St. James Building is an 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.
The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville, Florida. It primarily serves Jacksonville and Duval County, and is also used by the neighboring Baker, Nassau, Clay, and St. Johns Counties. It is one of the largest library systems in Florida, with a collection of over three million items. A division of the city government, the library has the third largest group of city employees after the city's Fire Department and Sheriff's Office. There are twenty branches and a Main Library in the system.
Cora Crane, born Cora Ethel Eaton Howarth was an American businesswoman, nightclub and bordello owner, writer and journalist. She is best known as the common-law wife of writer Stephen Crane from 1896 to his death in 1900, and took his name although they never married. She was still legally married to her second husband, Captain Donald William Stewart, a British military officer who had served in India and then as British Resident of the Gold Coast, where he was a key figure in the War of the Golden Stool (1900) between the British and the Ashanti Empire in present-day Ghana.
Metropolitan Park is a 32-acre (130,000 m2) urban waterfront park and concert venue located on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It is projected to be the eastern terminus of the northbank Jacksonville Riverwalk.
LaVilla is a historic African American neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida and a was formerly an independent city. It developed after the American Civil War and was eventually annexed to the city of Jacksonville in 1887 and is now considered part of downtown.
The Jacksonville Riverwalks are a network of multi-use trails and open space developments along both the north and south banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The roughly 2-mile (3.2 km) Downtown Northbank portion travels alongside the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville, Jacksonville Landing, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, CSX Transportation Building, and extends into the Brooklyn district. The 1.25-mile (2.01 km) Southbank portion of the trail connects local landmarks such as Friendship Fountain, Museum of Science and History and Riverplace Tower.
The Duval County Courthouse is the local courthouse for Duval County, Florida. It houses courtrooms and judges from the Duval County and Fourth Judicial Circuit Courts. The new facility is located Downtown Jacksonville, Florida; it was built starting in 2009 and opened in 2012.
Regency Square Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Opened in 1967 and once one of the most successful malls in the country, the mall now features around 20 stores, including one anchor store, Dillard's Clearance Center, Impact Church, and a food court. It is owned by Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management.
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.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Laura Street is a north–south street in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, named for the daughter of the city's founder, Isaiah D. Hart. Historically, the downtown portion of Laura Street has been considered the financial district of Jacksonville.
Belle Cora ,also known as Arabella Ryan, was a madam of the Barbary Coast during the mid-nineteenth century. She rose to public attention in 1855 when her lover, Charles Cora, killed US Marshall William H. Richardson after they had a conflict at the theater. She died in 1862.
Van Cicero Swearingen was an American attorney and politician who served as the 21st Florida Attorney General, serving from 1917 until 1921.
