Historic Eastside Preview

Welcome to the Eastside Brotherhood Building, this is one of two buildings on The Avenue that is considered a designated local historic landmark by the City of Jacksonville. Completed in 1924, the building was once the Ladies Union Industrial League Hall. During the height of segregation, the building was known for having a second floor dance hall and a tavern by the names of DelMonico's and William Telfair.

During the first half of the 20th century, Florida Avenue was the Eastside’s version of LaVilla’s Ashley Street. Known as “The Avenue”, it was the center of commerce for African-Americans living in communities east of Hogans Creek and the railroad line that once terminated at the Maxwell Coffee plant and Jacksonville Shipyards site.

Florida Avenue is home to Spot Rite Cleaners and Mother Pearl, the matriarch of A Phillip Randolph Boulevard.

Click Here to learn more about Mother Pearl and her love for her neighborhood of OutEast.

Built in 1904 the original six row houses are now being repurposed into the Arts Vilage Eastside "The Ave" Homage to Florida Avenue. As we preserve these vintage tiny houses, the project is modeled after Project Row House in HoustonTexas. We encourage artists to extend their practice outside the studio into the social context. Through mentorship, commission-based practices, and public art opportunities, artists foster a positive, creative environment that enriches lives and honors culture and history.
Community We support people and ideas so that they can do the same. Our programs cultivate independent change agents by creating sustainable opportunities for artists, young mothers, small businesses, and Eastside residents.

When completed in 1913, owner C.B. Gay declared to be the largest and finest warehouse in the state of Florida. Built by Turner Construction (NYC) of cast-
in-place reinforced concrete, the 330,000 square foot building is now home to over 70 artists and makers ni East Jacksonville.

For the urban workforce, including artists and makers, who are seeking an authentic, community-driven place to live, work and play, Union Terminal Warehouse is the mixed use, historic redevelopment hub of the city's Eastside. Located directly on the future path of the Emerald Trail, the revitalized property is energizing the neighborhood as it brings new residential, commercial, shop space and retail space to the area while embracing the building's unique character and industrial roots.

Interested in leasing space here for a restaurant or a store? Click here to get in touch!

The Old City Cemetery was established in 1852. The property was donated by Captain Charles and Frances Willey in 1852 to the Town of Jacksonville. The cemetery was expanded in 1869 by another two acres to the north to accommodate primarily African -American burials. This part of Old City Cemetery, known as the Duval Colored Cemetery or the “Freedmen’s Cemetery”, came to be the burial ground of choice for many of Jacksonville’s prominent African-American families. Dispersed throughout this part of the cemetery are the graves of 50 African American veterans, commonly referred to as Buffalo Soldiers, including several that served in the Union army.

This frame vernacular house was built in 1928 for Doane Martin Mungen, Sr. (1872-1948) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Mungen (1874-1955). This is the Oakland neighborhood, which was platted in 1869, and emerged in the 1870s as a working class community. The Mungens moved from 343 East Union Street to a wooded bungalow here that was demolished to build this 12-room house. With time, the rooms on the second level were rented. Red bricks that form the columns, pier foundation, and chimney are from a demolished building in the downtown area. A large white stone at the curb of the front walk has rested there for 75 years. It once served as a step from horse-drawn buggies. Mr. Mungen planted a water oak on the east lawn and laurel on the west. D.M. Mungen, Jr. (1904-1936), eldest son of five, sent money from Tallahassee where he worked as a chef in the Floridan Hotel, now demolished. The only daughter, Sylvia Amanda Mungen (1903-1996), a Duval County teacher for 42 years, lived here until 1990. The house is one of a few left of its era and is a shining example of upward mobility in the Africian American community.

in the area representing African-Americans of upward mobility.

A Philip Randolph Park is a shining example of urban renewal, this park was once the commercial epicenter of A. Philip Randolph Boulevard an Eastside community.

Businesses formerly located on this park site include the Pix Theater, Gem Billiards, Singleton's Superior Bar-B-Q, Salim ] Debs Grocery, Lewis & Ruffin Fish Company, Evening in Paris Lunch Room and Henry's Tavern.This parki s named after A. Philip Randolph who grew up in Jacksonville and became one of themost important figures of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Randolph's efforts eventually led to the 1963 March on Washington. Randolph's political activity led to a meeting with President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

A life-size bronze statue of Olympic Gold Medallist and Dallas Cowboy star, Bob Hayes, was added to the park in November 2002. Hayes grew up in Jacksonville, less than a mile from the park. Park amenities include playscapes, an amphitheater, picnic tables, benches and restrooms. Stroll through A Phillip Randolph Park, a centerpiece to our neighborhod.

1473 Evergreen Avenue was once the residence of John Cornelius Hurston, Jr. John, Zora’s older brother, came to Jacksonville after a fallout with their father around 1908. He quickly worked his way up to being a manager at Charles Anderson’s Fish & Osyter House on Florida Avenue, moving to this Eastside residence around 1911. In 1914, Zora moved into this house with John and his wife, Blanche. Here’s an interesting look into her life at this time:

Soon, she fled. By 1914, Zora was back in Jacksonville, living with her brother John Cornelius and his wife, Blanche, at 1663 Evergreen Avenue. That year she was listed, along with the couple, in the directory of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church - the same church at which the Florida Baptist Academy, her former school, had been founded. Zora had journeyed to Jacksonville not just to elude Bob’s authority but also with the hope of returning to the academy and finishing high school.

This was not to be. Yet what happened next is the most mysterious gap in the narrative of Hurston’s life.

From the time she was a little girl, dogged by clairvoyant visions of her future, Zora knew that (in her words) “a house, a shot-gun built house that needed a new coat of white paint, held torture for me, but I must go. I saw deep love betrayed, but I must feel and know it. There was no turning back.

Source: Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

For over 100 years, the corner brick building at 1478 Florida Avenue served as the symbol of vitality for the Eastside of Jacksonville, Florida. Generations of neighborhood kids grew up knowing to “go to Debs” for all their necessities even if it meant putting it “on the book”. While other corner stores came and went, the Debs name stands as a welcoming fixture the neighborhood depended on for all grocery needs and community connection.

With the goal of opening by the end of the year, this would represent over 100 years since Debs Store originally opened in 1921.
Generations of neighborhood kids grew up knowing to "go to Debs" for their groceries, sundries, newspapers and any family necessity even fi it meant putting the cost of the items "on the book" until such time as the family could pay. These same kids sent their kids and their kids' kids to "Debs" daily to buy, mostly by credit, everything from fresh greens and meats to panty hose and handkerchiefs.
The proprietors of Debs Store, Nicolas and his sons Nick and Gene, greeted everyone with the same smile and the same genuine interest of what was going on in their life. It was a place to gather and for neighbors to be neighbors. The Store represented a real part of the Eastside and the lives of many past and current residents were positively impacted by Debs Store. The doors of Debs Store closed in early 2011 after 90 years as the last of the second-generation owners passed away. With its closing, the Eastside community was left with no fresh food market within four miles of the Store. Possibly even greater, the community gathering spot and supportdepot was gone--but now, Deb is back!

Midway A.M.E. Church was organized on Sunday, June 10, 1865, a few weeks after the Confederate Army in Floirda surrendered to the Union Army. It was thus the first black independent church organized in Florida. William G. Steward was sent to Florida by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and founded achurch at Midway, a settlement east ofJacksonville, on his second day in the state. M.r Steward appointed Brother G. B. Hil as the pastorof Midway Church before going on to organize congregations in middle Florida and in the panhandle section of the state. In later years M.r Steward became involved in politics in Leon and Gadsden Counties and served a term in the Floirda Legislature. Midway Church is recognized as the"mother" ofboth the Florida Conference ofthe A.M.E. Church, organized in 1867 in Tallahassee, and of the East Florida Conference organized in Palatka in 1877. While the original church building is no longer standing, the
congregation of"Mother" Midway has been in continuous existence since its founding.

In 1879, members of the Bethlehem Baptist Association founded the school, then called Florida Baptist Institute, in Live Oak ton create "a College of instruction for our ministers and children." The Reverend J. L. A. Fish was its first president. Despite a promising start, racial tensions soon cast a shadow over the Institute. In April 1892, after unknown persons fired shots into one
o f the school's buildings, then-President Rev. Matthew Gilbert and other staff members fled Live Oak for Jacksonville where he founded the Florida Baptist Academy in the basement of Bethel Baptist Church. They began holding classes in May 1892, with Sarah Ann Blocker asthe main instructor. The school in Live Oak, however, continued to operate even after this splintering.
In 1896, Nathan White Collier was appointed president of the Academy, a post he held for 45 years. President Collier recruited renowned composer and Jacksonville native, J. Rosamond Johnson, toteach music at the school. While in the employ of the Florida Baptist Academy, Rosamond composed music for "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," a poem written by his brother, James Weldon Johnson, creating the song that has since been enshrined as the "Negro National Anthem." tI was first performed by a choir that included students from Florida Baptist Academy at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1900. The institution numerous graduates who would go on to acclaim within the state and nation, such as Eartha M. M. White, the legendary business woman and community servant in Jacksonville; the Rev. Howard Thurman, a renowned figure in American theology, who was recognized in 1952 by Life Magazine as one of the twelve most influential religious leaders in the
country. And Harry T. Moore, civil rights advocate and head of the Florida conference of the NAACP.

In 1974, the city acquired approximately 7 acres from The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. After acquiring the property, the City requested that bordering sections of Van Buren Street, Roland Street, and Foster Lane be closed for park construction. Later in the spring of 1974, construction started on basketball courts and a playground. Also during this time tennis courts, a baseball field and a t-ball field were constructed. In October 1982, the park was renamed from NDP Park to Eastside Community Park. Mayor Hazouri and CW Darling held the Eastside Community Center
dedication 10 April 1990. A fire damaged the community center in February 1996 and renovations were designed in the process. Lease agreements between the City of Jacksonville and The 100 Black Men of Jacksonville and theJacksonville International Longshoremen's Association of Retirees were signed for the groups to provide a place to devise life enrichment programs for the Eastside Community. In 1999, Ordinance 1999-464-W was signed, naming the tennis courts after Flossie Brunson. She has been a resident of the lower Eastside since she was five years old, having moved from Georgia. After her retirement in 1976 from the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, she organized the Lower Eastside Neighborhood Development Corporation to improve and stabilize the neighborhood. She has been actively involved in neighborhood improvement projects ever since. Also in 1999, the park was renamed First Street Park/Eastside Park after Ed Holt. Mr Holt is a long time grocery proprietor and community leader, who was raised on a farm in Georgia. He has served on numerous boards of community organizations and has received numerous awards for public service. In August 2001, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to celebrate the renovation for the park, consisting of lighting, landscaping, a walk path, water feature, fencing, benches, and irrigation. This projectwas competed April 2002. In May 2003, the park was renamed by City Council Resolution to Flossie Brunson-Eastside Community Center &Playground to honor Ms. Brunson's life and many contributions to the citizens of Jacksonville.

The Marker Stil Remains at these apartments. The Boylan School for Negro Girls was established in 1886 by the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1933 it was maintained under its supervision by founder Miss Harriet E. Emerson, their mission was to educate former slaves and their descendants. Boylan-Haven-Mather
Academy closed in 1983, the school was named for a benefactor, Ann Boylan.

The Eastside's Mount Olive A.M.E. Church was organized in 1868 and housed in a brush arbor. In 2021, the church was placed on the National Register of endangered historic structures. This sanctuary was designed by Richard L Brown and built in 1922. Born into slavery, Brown eventually became Jacksonville's first black architect. Since Asa Philip Randolph's father would preach at rural AME congregations across Northeast Florida on a regular basis, his mother Elizabeth Robinson Randolph was a member of the Eastside's Mount Olive AME Church at the northeast corner of Pippen and Franklin streets. At the time, Joseph Edward Lee, Jacksonville's first black attorney and one of the state's most influential men during Reconstruction also served as a minister. A captivating orator, Lee was powerful national political force for five decades, acting at various times as a state legislator, attorney, federal customs collector, and educator. At Mount Olive, a young Asa Philip Randolph studied Lee's deliberate, quiet speech and diction. These would become traits he would use later in life asa union and CivilRights leader.

Oakland Park is located in the Oakland section ofdowntown Jacksonville, and has been City property since the 1880's. The residential communitv of Oakland emerged during the 1870's and was oriented toward working-class families.West of the park lies the Old City Cemetery established in 1852, and

In the heart of our community, the Dr. Charles B. McIntosh Building stands as a historic landmark with a rich legacy of saving lives and providing healthcare. As we honor the pioneering spirit of Dr. Charles B. McIntosh, the first African American pediatrician in Jacksonville, FL, we are excited to share our vision for the upper part of the building. These apartments, once home to the doctors who practiced within these walls, will soon be restored to their former glory as two-bedroom, two-bath living spaces.

The former Anderson Department Store is the second localy designated historic site in this historic corridor. Dating back ot 1909, it was a department store operated by Richard Anderson. Charlotte
Scott Anderson Lewis, Richard's mother, was a major Eastside landowner who was married to the father of Al Lewis, the long time president of the Afro- American Life Insurance Company. Richard's brother, Charles Anderson, owned and operated one of the first Black-owned banks in Jacksonville in LaVila. Living above, Anderson operated this store from 1909 until his death in 1960. The Property is still owned by the family.