Timeline of Jacksonville, Florida

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

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 20th century

• 1564 - French Fort Caroline established by René Goulaine de Laudonnière.[1]
• 1565 - Spanish forces take Fort Caroline.
• 1822
  • Settlement named "Jacksonville" to honor Andrew Jackson.[2]
  • Town grid laid out.[3]
  • Jacksonville becomes seat of newly formed Duval County.[1]
• 1832
  • Town incorporated.[4]
  • William J. Mills becomes mayor.[1]
• 1838 - Bethel Baptist Church established.[5]
• 1845 - Florida becomes part of the United States.
• 1846 - October 12: Gale.[6]
• 1857 - City Park created.
• 1858 - Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad begins operating.[7]
• 1862 - Town occupied by Union forces.
• 1869 - St. James Hotel built.[8]
• 1871 - Furchgott, Benedict & Co. dry goods store in business.[9]
• 1872 - Cookman Institute established.[3]
• 1873 - Florida Circulating Library active.[10]
• 1875 - Windsor Hotel built.[11]
• 1876
  • Duval High School established.[12]
  • Union Congregational Church built.[12][13]
• 1877 - Board of Health established.[12]
• 1878 - Library and Literary Association formed.
• 1881 - Florida Daily Times begins publication.[14]
• 1882
  • Synagogue dedicated.[15]
  • Florida Baptist Academy established.
• 1884 - Board of Trade organized.[16]
• 1885 - Park Opera House in business.[17]
• 1886 - Boylan Industrial Home and school established.[18]
• 1887
  • Yellow fever epidemic.[19]
  • The Metropolis newspaper begins publication.[14]
  • St. Andrew's Episcopal Church built.
• 1888 - Subtropical Exposition held.
• 1890 - Population: 17,201.[3]
• 1892 - Edward Waters College active.[20]
• 1893 - Streetcars began operating.
• 1897 - Woman's Club founded.[21]
• 1900 - "Lift Every Voice and Sing" song first performed.[22]

20th century

1900s-1950s

• 1901
  • May 3: Great Fire of 1901.[1]
  • Brewster Hospital established.[23]
  • Continental Hotel opens.[21]
• 1903
  • Mason Park opens.[21]
  • Florida Automobile Association organized.[21]
• 1904
  • Lincoln Park opens.[21]
  • First Baptist Church built.
• 1905
  • Jacksonville Free Public Library opens.
  • Protestant Union Revival held.[21]
• 1907
  • Manhattan Beach opens.[21]
  • Dixieland Amusement Park opens in South Jacksonville.[21]
  • South Jacksonville chartered as a city.[21]
• 1908 - Filmmaker Kalem Studios active.[1]
• 1909 - YMCA building constructed.[21]
• 1910
  • Atlantic Boulevard laid out.
  • Population: 57,699.[24]
• 1912
  • St. James Building constructed.
  • City Rotary Club formed.
• 1914 - Jacksonville Zoological Park established.[25]
• 1917
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Jacksonville chapter established.[26]
  • John W. Martin becomes mayor.
• 1920 – Population: 91,558.[24]
• 1921 - St. Johns River Bridge opens.[1]
• 1923 - John T. Alsop becomes mayor.
• 1925
  • Negro Welfare League organized.[26]
  • WJAX radio begins broadcasting.[27]
• 1926 - Carling Hotel opens.
• 1927 - Florida Theatre and 5 Points Theatre built.[28]
• 1928 - Gator Bowl Stadium built.
• 1929 - Jacksonville Historical Society founded.
• 1930 – Population: 129,549.[24]
• 1934
  • Jacksonville Junior College established.
  • WMBR radio begins broadcasting.[27]
• 1938
  • WJHP radio begins broadcasting.[27]
  • Theatre Jacksonville built.[28]
• 1940
  • U.S. military Naval Air Station Jacksonville commissioned.[1]
  • Population: 173,065.[24]
• 1946 - Annual Gator Bowl college football game begins.
• 1947
  • Jacksonville Urban League formed.[26]
  • Hanna Park created.
• 1949
  • WJXT (television) begins broadcasting.[29]
  • W. Haydon Burns becomes mayor.
• 1950 - Population: 204,517.[24]
• 1953 - Mathews Bridge opens.
• 1955 - Jacksonville Expressway Authority established.
• 1957 - WFGA-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[29]

1960s-1990s

• 1960
  • August: "Ax Handle Saturday" racial unrest.[23]
  • Population: 201,030.[24]
• 1962 - Civic Auditorium opens.[17]
• 1963 - December- Hotel Roosevelt fire
• 1964 - Hurricane Dora occurs.[1]
• 1967
  • Hart Bridge opens.[30]
  • Mary Singleton and Sallye B. Mathis became the first female African Americans elected to the City Council.[23]
• 1968
  • Consolidation of city and Duval County governments.
  • Hans Tanzler becomes mayor.
• 1970 - Population: 528,865.[24]
• 1973 - Florida Municipal Home Rule Powers Act ratified.[31][nb 1]
• 1979 - Jake Godbold becomes mayor.
• 1980
  • Foreign trade zone established.[32][33]
  • Population: 540,920.[24]
• 1984 - Jacksonville Bulls football team formed.
• 1989 - The Jacksonville Skyway begins operating[34]
• 1990 - Population: 635,230.[24]
• 1993 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district.[35]
• 1995
  • Jacksonville Jaguars football team formed.[1]
  • Jacksonville Municipal Stadium opens.
  • John Delaney becomes mayor.[36]
• 1998 - City website online (approximate date).[37][38]
• 2000
  • "Better Jacksonville Plan" for urban growth approved.[39]
  • Population: 735,617.[40]

21st century

• 2001 - Ander Crenshaw becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 4th congressional district.[41]
• 2003 - May 13: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2003 held; John Peyton wins.
• 2010 - Population: 821,784.[42]
• 2011 - March 22: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2011 held; Alvin Brown wins. He was the city's first elected African-American mayor.[23]
• 2013 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district again.[43]
• 2015 - Lenny Curry becomes mayor.

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

Notes

1. In Florida "'municipal home rule' power does not extend to fiscal home rule, however, because the state reserves all taxing authority to itself."[31]

References

1. "Jacksonville Timeline". Jacksonville Public Library. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
2. James Wood Davidson (1889), Florida of To-day: A Guide for Tourists and Settlers, D. Appleton and company, OCLC 1535118, OL 23527797M
3. Britannica 1910.
4. Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (2001), Overview of Municipal Incorporations in Florida (PDF), LCIR Report, Tallahassee, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-28
5. Monroe N. Work, ed. (1922). "The Church Among Negroes: First Churches Organized (timeline)". Negro Year Book. Alabama: Negro Year Book Publishing Company, Tuskegee Institute. hdl:2027/wu.89073092546 – via HathiTrust.
6. Davis 1911.
7. Fenlon 1953.
8. Federal Writers' Project 1939.
9. Dry Goods Economist, New York: Textile Publishing Co., January 22, 1916, OCLC 8911005
10. Davies Project. "American Libraries before 1876". Princeton University. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
11. Varnum 1885.
12. Gold 1929.
13. History, Jacksonville: Arlington Congregational Church, retrieved September 20, 2016
14. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
15. Webb 1887, pp. 13-21: "Chronological"
16. Board of Trade 1906.
17. Fletcher 2015.
18. Woman's home missions, Cincinnati: Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, August 1920
19. Shumsky 1998.
20. Nancy C. Curtis (1996), Black Heritage Sites, Chicago: American Library Association, ISBN 0838906435, OL 1274269M, 0838906435
21. Crooks 1984.
22. McCarthy 1992.
23. "Timeline of African-Americans in North Florida". Jacksonville Public Library. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
24. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, US Census Bureau, 1998
25. Vernon N. Kisling, Jr., ed. (2001). "Zoological Gardens of the United States (chronological list)". Zoo and Aquarium History. USA: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-3924-5.
26. Bartley 2000.
27. Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Florida", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636
28. "Historic Theatre Inventory". Maryland, USA: League of Historic American Theatres. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
29. Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: Florida", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC 10512206
30. Historic Highway Bridges of Florida (PDF), Florida Department of Transportation, 2012
31. League of Women Voters Jacksonville; et al., Introduction to Duval County Government, retrieved April 30, 2017
32. Susan Tiefenbrun (2012), Tax Free Trade Zones of the World and in the United States, Edward Elgar, p. 294, ISBN 9781849802437
33. "Merchandise Received and Exports: Top 25, 2015", Annual Report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to the Congress of the United States, 2016
34. Bell, Jon (December 1, 2007). "Jacksonville, Florida: The Skyway". www.jtbell.net. Jon Bell. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
35. "Florida". Official Congressional Directory. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1993. hdl:2027/uc1.l0072691827 – via HathiTrust.
36. "Office of the Mayor". City of Jacksonville. Archived from the original on February 2, 2003.
37. "Welcome to Jacksonville's Virtual City Hall!". Archived from the original on December 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
38. "Jacksonville hopes city's new website moves services online", Jacksonville.com, Florida Times-Union, December 28, 2010
39. Prues 2003.
40. U.S. Census Bureau, "Mini-Historical Statistics: Population of the Largest 75 Cities: 1900 to 2000" (PDF), Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003
41. "Florida". Official Congressional Directory. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2003. hdl:2027/mdp.39015054040954.
42. Florida Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research; U.S. Census Bureau (2011), "City of Jacksonville", 2010 Census Detailed City Profiles
43. Civic Impulse, LLC. "Members of Congress". GovTrack. Washington, D.C. Retrieved September 20, 2016.

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

• Edward H. Hall (1873), "Jacksonville", Appletons' Hand-book of American Travel: the Southern Tour, New York: D. Appleton & Co
• Jacksonville Directory. New York: W.S. Webb & Co. 1876 – via University of North Florida.
• John L. Edwards (1881), "Jacksonville", Edwards' guide to East Florida, Jacksonville, Fla: Ashmead Bros.
• Varnum (1885). Jacksonville, Florida: a descriptive and statistical report. Jacksonville Board of Trade.
• John R. Richards, ed. (1886). "Jacksonville". Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory. New York: South Publishing Company. OCLC 12186532.
• W.S. Webb, ed. (1886), Jacksonville and Consolidated Directory – via University of Florida
• George E. Waring, Jr.; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office (1887), "Florida: Jacksonville", Report on the Social Statistics of Cities: Southern and the Western States, Washington DC: Government Printing Office, pp. 181–184
• Wanton S. Webb, ed. (1887), Jacksonville and Consolidated Directory
• Joseph W. White (1890), "City of Jacksonville", White's Guide to Florida, Jacksonville, Fla: Dacosta
• "Jacksonville", Rand, McNally & Co.'s handy guide to the southeastern states, Chicago and New York: Rand, McNally & Co., 1899

Published in 20th century

• Jacksonville and Florida Facts; prepared for the Jacksonville Board of Trade, Jacksonville: H. & W. B. Drew Company, 1906, hdl:2027/nyp.33433007498706, OCLC 1540641
• "Jacksonville". Florida Gazetteer and Business Directory 1907-1908. R. L. Polk & Co.
  • 1918 ed.
• Jacksonville City Directory. R. L. Polk & Co. 1908.
  • 1918 ed.
  • 1921 ed.
• "Jacksonville", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Thomas Frederick Davis (1911), History of Early Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville: The H. & W. B. Drew Company, OCLC 1534543, OL 6537778M
• Jacksonville: A city with a sky line and a water front and the spirit that does things, Jacksonville: Arnold Printing Co., 1913, OCLC 1813903, OL 242620M
• "Jacksonville". Automobile Blue Book. 6. USA. 1920. Map
• Thomas Frederick Davis (1925). History of Jacksonville, Florida and vicinity 1513 to 1924. St. Augustine, Fla.: Florida Historical Society. OCLC 250419240.
• Pleasant Daniel Gold (1929). History of Duval County. St. Augustine, Fla.: The Record Company – via HathiTrust. (fulltext)
• Federal Writers' Project (1939), "Jacksonville", Florida; a Guide to the Southernmost State
• Paul E. Fenlon (October 1953). "The Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad: The Railroad in Jacksonville". Florida Historical Quarterly. 32 (2): 71–80. JSTOR 30138953.
• Richard A. Martin (1975). The City Makers. Jacksonville, FL. OCLC 1547826.
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Jacksonville", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M
• James B. Crooks (April 1984). "Changing Face of Jacksonville, Florida: 1900-1910". Florida Historical Quarterly. 62 (4): 439–463. JSTOR 30146594.
• James Robertson Ward (1985). Old Hickory's Town: An Illustrated History of Jacksonville. Miller Press. OCLC 8919363.
• James B. Crooks (1991). Jacksonville after the Fire, 1901–1919: A New South City. University of North Florida Press. ISBN 0813010675.
• Kevin M. McCarthy, ed. (1992). "Jacksonville". Book Lover's Guide to Florida. Sarasota: Pineapple Press. pp. 26–49. ISBN 978-1-56164-021-8.
• Susan E. Clarke; Gary L. Gaile (1998). "Cities at Work: Cleveland and Jacksonville". The Work of Cities. Globalization and Community. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 107–150. ISBN 978-0-8166-2892-6.
• Neil L. Shumsky, ed. (1998). "Jacksonville, Florida". Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1849723362.
• Abel A. Bartley (2000). Keeping the Faith: Race, Politics, and Social Development in Jacksonville, Florida, 1940-1970. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-31035-5.

Published in 21st century

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

External links

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

Images

• 
  Bay Street, Jacksonville, late 19th c.
• 
  1886 advertisement for Park Opera House (est. 1885)