Timeline of Jacksonville, Florida explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

Prior to 20th century

• Prior to 1564 - One early map shows a village called Ossachite at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for that area.
• 1564 - French Fort Caroline established by René Goulaine de Laudonnière.
• 1565 - Spanish forces take Fort Caroline.
• 1822
  • Settlement named "Jacksonville" to honor Andrew Jackson.
  • Town grid laid out.
  • Jacksonville becomes seat of newly formed Duval County.
• 1832
  • Town incorporated.
  • William J. Mills becomes mayor.
• 1838 - Bethel Baptist Church established.^[1]
• 1845 - Florida becomes part of the United States.
• 1846 - October 12: Gale.
• 1857 - City Park created.
• 1858 - Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad begins operating.
• 1862 - Town occupied by Union forces.
• 1869 - St. James Hotel built.
• 1871 - Furchgott, Benedict & Co. dry goods store in business.
• 1872 - Cookman Institute established.
• 1873 - Florida Circulating Library active.^[2]
• 1875 - Windsor Hotel built.
• 1876
  • Duval High School established.
  • Union Congregational Church built.
• 1877 - Board of Health established.
• 1878 - Library and Literary Association formed.
• 1881 - Florida Daily Times begins publication.^[3]
• 1882
  • Synagogue dedicated.
  • Florida Baptist Academy established.
• 1884 - Board of Trade organized.
• 1885 - Park Opera House in business.
• 1886 - Boylan Industrial Home and school established.
• 1887
  • Yellow fever epidemic.
  • The Metropolis newspaper begins publication.
  • St. Andrew's Episcopal Church built.
• 1888 - Subtropical Exposition held.
• 1890 - Population: 17,201.
• 1892 - Edward Waters College active.
• 1893 - Streetcars began operating.
• 1897 - Woman's Club founded.
• 1900 -
  • "Lift Every Voice and Sing" song first performed.
  • Population: 28,429.

20th century

1900s-1950s

• 1901
  • May 3: Great Fire of 1901.
  • Brewster Hospital established.
  • Continental Hotel opens.
• 1903
  • Mason Park opens.
  • Florida Automobile Association organized.
• 1904
  • Lincoln Park opens.
  • First Baptist Church built.
• 1905
  • Jacksonville Free Public Library opens.
  • Protestant Union Revival held.
• 1907
  • Manhattan Beach opens.
  • Dixieland Amusement Park opens in South Jacksonville.
  • South Jacksonville chartered as a city.
• 1908 - Filmmaker Kalem Studios active.
• 1909 - YMCA building constructed.
• 1910
  • Atlantic Boulevard laid out.
  • Population: 57,699.
• 1912
  • St. James Building constructed.
  • City Rotary Club formed.
• 1914 - Jacksonville Zoological Park established.^[4]
• 1917
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Jacksonville chapter established.
  • John W. Martin becomes mayor.
• 1920 – Population: 91,558.
• 1921 - St. Johns River Bridge opens.
• 1923 - John T. Alsop becomes mayor.
• 1925
  • Negro Welfare League organized.
  • WJAX radio begins broadcasting.
• 1926 - Carling Hotel opens.
• 1927 - Florida Theatre and 5 Points Theatre built.
• 1928 - Gator Bowl Stadium built.
• 1929 - Jacksonville Historical Society founded.
• 1930 – Population: 129,549.
• 1934
  • Jacksonville Junior College established.
  • WMBR radio begins broadcasting.
• 1938
  • WJHP radio begins broadcasting.
  • Theatre Jacksonville built.^[5]
• 1940
  • U.S. military Naval Air Station Jacksonville commissioned.
  • Population: 173,065.
• 1946 - Annual Gator Bowl college football game begins.
• 1947
  • Jacksonville Urban League formed.
  • Hanna Park created.
• 1949
  • WJXT (television) begins broadcasting.
  • W. Haydon Burns becomes mayor.
• 1950 - Population: 204,517.
• 1953 - Mathews Bridge opens.
• 1955 - Jacksonville Expressway Authority established.
• 1957 - WFGA-TV (television) begins broadcasting.

1960s-1990s

• 1960
  • August: "Ax Handle Saturday" racial unrest.
  • Population: 201,030.
• 1962 - Civic Auditorium opens.
• 1963 - December, Hotel Roosevelt fire
• 1964 - September 10, Hurricane Dora occurs.^[6]
• 1967
  • Hart Bridge opens.
  • Mary Singleton and Sallye B. Mathis became the first female African Americans elected to the City Council.
• 1968
  • Consolidation of city and Duval County governments.
  • Hans Tanzler becomes mayor.
• 1970 - Population: 528,865.
• 1973 - Florida Municipal Home Rule Powers Act ratified.
• 1979 - Jake Godbold becomes mayor.
• 1980
  • Foreign trade zone established.
  • Population: 540,920.
• 1984 - Jacksonville Bulls football team formed.
• 1989 - The Jacksonville Skyway begins operating^[7]
• 1990 - Population: 635,230.
• 1993 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district.^[8]
• 1995
  • Jacksonville Jaguars football team formed.
  • Jacksonville Municipal Stadium opens.
  • John Delaney becomes mayor.^[9]
• 1998 - City website online (approximate date).^[10]
• 2000
  • "Better Jacksonville Plan" for urban growth approved.
  • Population: 735,617.

21st century

• 2001 - Ander Crenshaw becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 4th congressional district.^[11]
• 2003 - May 13: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2003 held; John Peyton wins.
• 2010 - Population: 821,784.
• 2011 - March 22: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2011 held; Alvin Brown wins. He was the city's first elected African-American mayor.^[12]
• 2013 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district again.^[13]
• 2015 - Lenny Curry becomes mayor.
• 2022 - Jacksonville celebrates its bicentennial.
• 2023 - May 16: 2023 Jacksonville mayoral election; Donna Deegan wins, becomes the city's first female mayor.
• 2023 - August 26: Mass shooting at a Jacksonville Dollar General store.^[14]

See also

• History of Jacksonville, Florida
• List of mayors of Jacksonville, Florida
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Duval County, Florida
• Timelines of other cities in the North Florida area of Florida: Gainesville, Pensacola, Tallahassee

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

• • Book: Jacksonville Directory . W.S. Webb & Co. . University of North Florida . 1876 . New York .
• Jacksonville (Florida) . 13 . 1.
  • Book: Varnum . Jacksonville, Florida: a descriptive and statistical report . Jacksonville Board of Trade . 1885.
• Book: Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory . John R. Richards . South Publishing Company . New York . 12186532 . 1886. Jacksonville. https://archive.org/stream/floridastategaze1886sout#page/196/mode/2up.

Published in 20th century

• • Book: . Florida Gazetteer and Business Directory 1907-1908 . Jacksonville. 1907 . https://archive.org/stream/floridagazetteer1907rlpo#page/180/mode/2up.
  • 1918 ed.
• Book: R. L. Polk & Co. . Jacksonville City Directory . 1908.
  • 1918 ed.
  • 1921 ed.
• Jacksonville (Florida) . 15 . 112 . 1910 . . 1.
  • • Book: Jacksonville . 6. 1920. Automobile Blue Book . USA. Automobile Blue Book. Map
• Book: History of Jacksonville, Florida and vicinity 1513 to 1924 . Thomas Frederick Davis . St. Augustine, Fla. . Florida Historical Society . 1925 . 250419240 .
• Book: History of Duval County. Pleasant Daniel Gold. St. Augustine, Fla. . The Record Company. 1929. HathiTrust. . (fulltext)
  • The Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad: The Railroad in Jacksonville. Paul E. Fenlon. Florida Historical Quarterly . 32. 2. 71–80. October 1953. 30138953. .
• Book: The City Makers . Jacksonville, FL . Richard A. Martin . 1975 . 1547826 .
  • Changing Face of Jacksonville, Florida: 1900-1910 . James B. Crooks . Florida Historical Quarterly . 62 . 4 . 439–463 . April 1984. 30146594. .
• Book: James Robertson Ward . Old Hickory's Town: An Illustrated History of Jacksonville . Miller Press . 1985 . 8919363 .
• Book: James B. Crooks . Jacksonville after the Fire, 1901–1919: A New South City . University of North Florida Press . 0813010675 . 1991 .
• Book: Kevin M. McCarthy. Book Lover's Guide to Florida. 1992. . Sarasota. 978-1-56164-021-8. Jacksonville. 26–49. .
• Book: Susan E. Clarke . Gary L. Gaile . The Work of Cities. 1998. University of Minnesota Press. 978-0-8166-2892-6 . Cities at Work: Cleveland and Jacksonville . https://books.google.com/books?id=siEok0aCoboC&pg=PA107 . 107–150 . Globalization and Community .
• Book: 1998. Jacksonville, Florida. Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Neil L. Shumsky . ABC-CLIO . 1849723362. .
• Book: Abel A. Bartley. Keeping the Faith: Race, Politics, and Social Development in Jacksonville, Florida, 1940-1970. 2000. Greenwood . 978-0-313-31035-5. .

Published in 21st century

• Book: Jacksonville Historical Society. Jacksonville in Vintage Postcards. 2001. Arcadia Publishing. 978-0-7385-0683-8.
• Book: Don Prues . Jack Heffron. Writer's Guide to Places. 2003. . Cincinnati . 1-58297-169-2 . Jacksonville . 72–74. .
• Book: Dorothy K. Fletcher. Historic Jacksonville Theatre Palaces, Drive-ins and Movie Houses. 2015. History Press . Charleston, SC . 978-1-62619-770-1. .

External links

• Web site: Jacksonville Public Library . Special Collections . Florida Collection .
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Jacksonville, Florida, various dates

Notes and References

1. Book: Negro Year Book . 1922. . . Alabama . The Church Among Negroes: First Churches Organized (timeline) . HathiTrust . 2027/wu.89073092546.
2. Web site: American Libraries before 1876 . Davies Project . Princeton University . June 27, 2013.
3. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington DC . Chronicling America . Library of Congress . June 27, 2013.
4. Book: Vernon N. Kisling, Jr. . Zoo and Aquarium History. 2001. . USA . 978-1-4200-3924-5 . Zoological Gardens of the United States (chronological list) . https://books.google.com/books?id=ulbMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA375 .
5. Web site: Historic Theatre Inventory . Maryland, USA . League of Historic American Theatres . June 27, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130721130121/http://www.lhat.org/historictheatres/theatre_inventory.aspx . July 21, 2013 .
6. Web site: . Jacksonville Timeline . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206002403/http://jaxpubliclibrary.org/coll/florida/jacksonvillehistory.html . February 6, 2012 .
7. Web site: Jacksonville, Florida: The Skyway . Bell . Jon . December 1, 2007 . www.jtbell.net . Jon Bell . December 12, 2015.
8. Book: Official Congressional Directory . Washington, D.C. . Government Printing Office . 1993 . Florida . HathiTrust . 2027/uc1.l0072691827 . Official Congressional Directory .
9. Web site: Office of the Mayor . City of Jacksonville . https://web.archive.org/web/20030202074808/http://www.coj.net/Mayor/Biography.htm . dead . February 2, 2003 .
10. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/19981206235204/http://www.coj.net/ . Welcome to Jacksonville's Virtual City Hall! . 1998-12-06 . dead . .
11. Book: Official Congressional Directory . Washington, D.C. . Government Printing Office . 2003 . Florida . 2027/mdp.39015054040954 . Official Congressional Directory .
12. Web site: . Timeline of African-Americans in North Florida . September 20, 2016 .
13. Web site: Members of Congress . . Civic Impulse, LLC . Washington, D.C. . September 20, 2016 .
14. Web site: n.a. . Jacksonville shootings: What we know about the hate crime . AP News . 27 August 2023 . 28 August 2023.