The Jaxson
Multimedia project by Modern Cities and WJCT Public Media, covering history, culture and urban issues in Jacksonville and the First Coast. linktr.ee/thejaxsonmag
- In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here’s a look at five places where King spent time during his visits to Jacksonville.
- Open mics, gallery shows, street cyphers, and concerts are happening across Jacksonville every night, showcasing the raw talent of local creators. If that’s news to you, the term underground still applies. Here’s a look at some of the people and places moving the city’s arts scene in new directions.
- Surrounded by McCoys Creek and Interstates 10 and 95, North Riverside is a collection of several subdivisions developed after the the Great Fire of 1901. Here’s a dive look at a neighborhood significantly impacted by heavy industry and expressway construction.
- Five decades before the Pilgrims, the French colonists of Fort Caroline in present-day Jacksonville and the Spanish settlers of St. Augustine held their own celebrations of Thanksgiving. These First Coast Thanksgivings were some of the first in the New World. Here are the stories:
- Another major Downtown project is here. An extension of the Southbank Riverwalk that runs back into the marsh, RiversEdge Parks is a chain of new parks and amenities on the former site of the JEA Southside Generating Station.
- The Halloween season means teenagers and young adults from all over the First Coast go legend tripping — the rite of passage of visiting spots associated with danger and creepy legends. Here’s a look at four of the most popular local legend tripping spots.
- The Jaxson’s Bill Delaney spoke to Erik Avanier of News4Jax about the folklore and reality of Jacksonville’s most famous haunted place: Annie Lytle Elementary, also known as “The Devil’s School.” Check it out here:
- Join The Jaxson's Mike Field for a guided walking tour of Ortega, one of Jax’s most enduring historic neighborhoods. Mike lived in the neighborhood for over a decade and offers both a historian's and insider's perspective of the area. Get tickets here:
- 50 years before Rosa Parks, a Jacksonville pastor sat down in a streetcar’s whites-only section, endured the legal consequences, and forced the courts to blink. His name was Andrew Patterson, and his blueprint traveled across the Civil Rights Movement.
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- A brief history and look at the legacy of the Boylan-Haven School, an institution of Black education in the Historic Eastside from 1910 to 1959. A brief history and look at the legacy of the Historic Eastside’s Boylan-Haven School.
- A brief history and look inside the historic Maceo Elks Lodge #8, the last surviving institutional building in LaVilla connected to Jacksonville’s early Jewish community and now a cornerstone of the city’s Black civic life.
- In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month: from the early Floridano colonists to 19th-century Cuban cigar factories to the diverse and growing communities of today, Jacksonville’s Hispanic history is hundreds of years deep. It’s time they got their due. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/viva...
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- Goodbye Homerdome, hello Pub Subs: Gateway Jax has announced that Publix is coming to the burgeoning Pearl Square district in the Downtown Northbank. It's the latest addition to Gateway Jax's major Downtown development plans. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/nort...
- Done right, moving the Duval County Public Schools HQ off the Southbank waterfront could be a boon for the district and taxpayers. However, if the School Board abandons Downtown entirely for expensive digs in Baymeadows, it’ll be a blow to taxpayers and Downtown.
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- Duval County Public Schools may finally leave the Downtown Southbank. But in moving to an expensive, poorly accessible Baymeadows office building wasting a golden opportunity?
- Located about 25 miles northeast of Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach is a historic city of 13,000 residents that spans the northern half of Amelia Island. Here are five fascinating facts about this vibrant walkable community.
- Rerouted, channelized & even buried underground for decades, McCoys Creek is currently undergoing restoration to return it to its natural state as part of the Emerald Trail. These City of Jacksonville photos from 1926 offer a glimpse of this important tributary 99 years ago.
- Guest writer Marcus Nelson tried out JTA’s $60 million U2C project. Is it a viable transit solution or… not?
- Evans Rendezvous, a prominent oceanfront venue on the Chitlin' Circuit, operated from 1948 to 1980 in the Black resort town of American Beach. Last week we had the opportunity to get a sneak peek inside this iconic historic landmark:
- Sushi, steaks, South African cuisine and more: Downtown Jax has struggled to maintain a consistent evening dining presence, but that will soon change as more concepts build out that could turn the area into the hottest dining destination in Northeast Florida. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/five...
- A brief look into the history of an early Jacksonville’ Paxon Shopping Center, one of the early suburban plazas to challenge Downtown as the city’s retail epicenter.
- Located 18 miles southeast of downtown Jacksonville, Bayard is a historic community with a rich cultural story. Here are five fascinating historical facts about Bayard that you might not know.
- Did you know that Downtown Jax’s highest rents were once in LaVilla's red light district? This 1939 map by the Federal Housing Administration is colored coded by rental rates for each city block, revealing economic conditions in the City prior to World War II.
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- Founded by Florida state rep Angie Nixon, Cafe Resistance on Soutel Dr. is a bookstore, coffee shop and community hub that highlights African American authors and banned books. Guest writer Jalicia Lewis tells the story behind this Northwest Jax hotspot.
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- Black music movements, genres and contributions have shaped America’s history and culture since the beginning. To close out Black Music Month, The Jaxson takes a look at the long and vibrant tradition of Black music-making in Jacksonville.
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- From Timucua two-spirits to bisexual blues musicians to the origin of River City Pride, Jax has a long and storied LGBTQ history. In honor of Pride Month, here are six stories from the city's past with special significance for the LGBTQ community.
- The story of Dr. E.A. Welters, a Jacksonville dentist who took his tooth powder — a precursor to modern toothpaste — and justice to the streets of Chicago.
- Even before the Maxwell House plant filled Jax with its rich aromas, the city was home to a vibrant coffee roasting industry. Take a look into the fascinating history of the Jacksonville’s early coffee businesses and the people who shaped this tradition. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/the-...
- A walk inside the former Neff House on Fort George Island. Built in 1926, it later became famous for the finding of the mysterious, still unidentified “Betz sphere” nearby. Today, the house is owned by the National Park Service and has fallen into disrepair.
- An op-ed by Jaxson cofounder Kelsi Hasden arguing that a land swap for the vacant Landing development parcel is the best deal on the table for moving the UF graduate campus forward.
- Join the Jaxson for a virtual tour of Uptown Butte, Montana. A late 19th century mining boomtown, it is now part of the largest National Historic District in the United States, encompassing more than 6,000 registered historic sites.
- Today’s op-ed for Jax Today argues the choice is clear for acquiring needed land in LaVilla for UF’s campus: The land swap saves taxpayers money, gets a high-profile dead space back on the tax rolls, and enables a crucial project to maintain Riverfront Plaza. jaxtoday.org/2025/06/04/o...
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- Here are five facts about the lost town of Milldale, a long-forgotten industrial mill community born from the Cummer Lumber Company in what’s now Jacksonville’s Panama Park neighborhood.
- A look at the rise and fall of Mixontown's Jones-Chambliss Meat Packers, later home to Bubba Burgers and now Peterbrooke Chocolatier.
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- Last weekend, the Jumbo Shrimp became the Jacksonville Honey Drippers in honor of the iconic icy sweet treat. Take a look at the sights and scenes.
- Today’s op ed discusses how Elizabeth Anderson’s nomination for the Jax Public Library Board has drawn politically-motivated attacks and outright slander from far right politicians and activists. Will City Council rise above the fray and confirm the nomination? www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/eliz...
- The Jaxson’s Kelsi Hasden writes that the nomination esteemed educator Elizabeth Andersen to the Library Board has drawn attacks from right wing activists. Will City Council do the right thing and confirm the nomination, or kowtow to partisan pressure?
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- For much of the 20th century, the West Jacksonville Yard and its locomotive maintenance and repair shops served as a key economic anchor on Jacksonville’s Westside. Here’s a look back at the rich history of this iconic industrial site.
- For nearly a century, Duval Laundry stood not just as a place of work, but as a pillar of community life and progress in Jacksonville. Now poised for new and exciting uses, here is a look into its past and a virtual glimpse of what remains inside of the old massive laundry plant today.
- The recently completed Union Terminal Warehouse project stands as a compelling example of industrial adaptive reuse—a growing trend in urban revitalization. Here’s our list of five more dream projects to adapt historic industrial facilities.
- Join Jaxson cofounder @tacachale.bsky.social for a Creature Feature! King Street favorites Dart Bar & Games and Keg & Coin are hosting a free outdoor showing of the classic Florida-filmed monster flick Creature From the Black Lagoon on Thursday, April 24. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/dart...
- The S-Line Urban Greenway opened in 2008 as Jacksonville's first dedicated urban multiuse trail. Here is a before and after look at the S-Line corridor 17 years following its completion. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/befo...
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- All the way back in 1600, a group of locals led by an Irish priest celebrated the first St. Patrick’s Day parade. It didn’t happen in Ireland or New York, but St. Augustine, FL, then a diverse Spanish colony on the edge of the empire. Here’s the story.
- Today, Artist Walk Skate Park is a hugely popular space under the Fuller Warren Bridge. But it almost didn’t happen. Here’s the 12-year saga of turning dead space into a beloved urban attraction. jaxtoday.org/2025/02/25/t...
- From 1916-1970, 6 million Black Americans left the Jim Crow South for better opportunities in the north and west in the Great Migration. Black Jacksonville played a key roles in the migration In honor of Black History Month, here’s a look. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/the-...
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- A new federal grant will create the opportunity not only to restore the Prime Osborn Convention Center as a train station, but make it a major mixed-use economic hub in LaVilla. With that in mind, here is a look at 5 rehabilitated rail stations across the country. Which path should Jax take?
- From major infrastructure projects to downtown restaurants to the continued boom in adaptive reuse, here are three trends to look for in Jacksonville’s Urban Core this year.
- More growth at Baptist Medical Center. The hospital’s proposed Emergency Department Expansion will seek Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB) Conceptual and Final Review on January 16.
- 6 major projects coming to Downtown Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood right now. www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/6-ma...
- A look at everything going on — and going up — in Jacksonville’s Urban Core with our winter 2025 Urban Construction Update:
