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115-589: The Northside was incorporated into the city in 1968 as a result the Jacksonville Consolidation , a city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County . The area houses a sizable share of the city's transportation and logistics infrastructure, including Jacksonville International Airport , Jacksonville station , JAXPORT Cruise Terminal , Blount Island Marine Terminal and Dames Point Marine Terminal. The area

230-557: A cable-stayed design, connecting Arlington to the Northside of Jacksonville. designed by HNTB Corporation and RS&H, Inc , and constructed by The Massman Construction Company, the main span is 1,300 feet (396.2 m), and is 175 feet (53.3 m) high. Upon completion, it was longest concrete cable-stayed bridge in the world. Opening in 2003, the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal was completed in only six months, and

345-449: A dangerous and inconvenient antipathy, which can have no better foundation than prejudice." In 1823 President James Monroe appointed Kingsley to Florida's Territorial Council, where he tried to persuade them to define the rights of free people of color. When it became apparent to him that they could not, he resigned. The council passed laws that increasingly restricted the rights which free blacks enjoyed under Spanish control. The treatise

460-403: A display about slavery on the island, and the garden is also on display. Maintenance of the historical structures is the most significant work being done at Kingsley Plantation. The kitchen and owner's house were closed in 2005 due to severe structural damage caused by termites and humidity . The kitchen building was restored in 2006, but work is ongoing for the owner's house. As of March 2017,

575-600: A fleet of slave schooners, some built at a shipyard on the plantation, using white artisans that Kingsley hired for the purpose. We know the name of only one, his schooner "North Carolina". There is a widow's walk on the house. They would discharge their African cargos at the plantation, openly until Florida became American in 1821, clandestinely afterwards. To increase their value and salability, newly-arrived slaves were taught some English and trained in agricultural tasks, and then they were marketed at premium prices to planters. "Kingsley niggers" were widely recognized as

690-405: A grove of orange, lemon, and banana trees with occasional ornamental crepe myrtles . Between 1869 and 1877 Rollins built a roof over the walkway between the kitchen house and the main house. A barn constructed of tabby sits 150 feet (46 m) from the owner's house. Two wells have survived since Kingsley's ownership and two tombs of unknown origin constructed of tabby before Kingsley came to own

805-850: A leading role in the Patriot Rebellion, an insurgency by Americans to hasten the annexation of Florida to the United States. The rebellion was unsuccessful, and McIntosh fled back into Georgia to escape punishment from the Spanish. Born in Bristol, England and educated in London after his family moved to colonial South Carolina , Zephaniah Kingsley (1765–1843) established his career as a slave trader and shipping magnate, which allowed him to travel widely. He settled on Fort George Island in 1814 after leasing it from McIntosh. He purchased

920-600: A lunch meeting of the chamber at the Robert Meyer Hotel to decide on a course of action for the region. Attendees included Glenn Marshall Jr., Roger L. Main, W. S. Johnson, Charles W. Campbell, Gert H.W. Schmidt, Edward Ball , C. G. Whittaker, Luke Sadler, B. D. Fincannon, George B. Hills, Jacob F. Bryan III, B. N. Nimnicht, James R. Stockton Sr. , J. T. Lane, J. H. Coppedge, Gen. Maxwell Snyder, Harold Meyerheim, Joseph W. Davin , Thompson S. Baker, Richard Lewinson, Henry M. French and S. Kendrick Guernsey. The date

1035-411: A modicum of privacy, although he also suggests overseers and slave managers may have arranged the quarters to be able to watch all the slaves from the owner's house at the same time. Author Daniel Schafer, however, suggests that Anna Jai may have been responsible for this layout. West African villages were commonly constructed in a circular pattern with the king or ruling family living in the center. In

1150-449: A necessary condition for any society, beneficial to owner and slave alike, and to the overall economy. He did not consider race the only factor that should determine servitude status, writing, "Few, I think will deny that color and condition, if properly considered, are two very separate qualities ... our legislators ... have mistaken the shadow for the substance, and confounded together two very different things; thereby substantiating by law

1265-496: A plantation in Haiti that was worked by former Fort George Island slaves, who had become indentured servants ; slavery was not allowed in Haiti. They were to earn their freedom in nine years. In 1842 Kingsley gave an interview to the abolitionist Lydia Child . When she asked him if he was aware that his occupation as a slave trader might be perceived as being akin to piracy, he responded "Yes; and I am glad of it. They will look upon

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1380-459: A planter who died perhaps while constructing it. It was apparently the last tabby structure built on the island. Kingsley Plantation currently showcases the remains of 23 slave houses out of 32 original cabins, located approximately 1,000 feet (305 m) south of the main owner's house. One of the slave houses has been restored to appear as it did in the early 19th century; others are in various states of repair or ruin. The kitchen house features

1495-402: A shield from any potential racial uprising. Authors of an ethnological study of slavery at Kingsley Plantation characterized Kingsley as a man of complex paradoxes, defiantly proud of his success as a slaveholder, yet dedicated to his multiracial family. Kingsley published a defense of slavery in 1828, identifying himself only as "An Inhabitant of Florida". He rationalized the institution as

1610-517: A slaveholder just so, by and by. Slave trading was a very respectable business when I was young. The first merchants in England and America were engaged in it. Some people hide things which they think other people don't like. I never conceal anything." He went on to exhibit considerable pride in the Haitian plantation built with the help of his sons: I wish you would go there. [Anna] would give you

1725-479: A suburb of Jacksonville in the 19th century. Although the site of East Florida 's first steam-powered sawmill , completed in 1828, major growth in Panama Park only came after 1905. In 1915, a new school was constructed, notably designed by architect Henry J. Klutho . By 1931, Panama Park was annexed by Jacksonville. Tallulah-North Shore, a neighborhood adjacent to Panama Park, was first platted in 1879. The area

1840-526: A then undergraduate student at University of Florida . As a result, six graves thought to contain enslaved Africans were unearthed by University of Florida archaeologists. The bodies ranged in age from infants to an elderly woman; three were adults who were probably born in West Africa. A 2006 excavation sponsored by the University of Florida uncovered artifacts from the slave cabins, such as

1955-466: A year of transition, the consolidated government went into effect on October 1, 1968. Jacksonville celebrated with a parade and fireworks that attracted 200,000 spectators. Hans Tanzler , elected mayor of Jacksonville the year before, became the first mayor of the consolidated government. Jacksonville became the largest city (by population) in Florida and the 13th largest in the United States. According to

2070-690: Is a U.S. National Preserve comprising over 46,000 acres (19,000 ha) of wetlands and waterways. It includes natural and historic areas such as the Fort Caroline National Memorial and the Kingsley Plantation , the oldest standing plantation in the state. There are several state parks within the Northside, these include: Jacksonville operates the largest urban park system in the United States, providing facilities and services at more than 337 locations on more than 80,000 acres (320 km) City parks located in

2185-598: Is also home to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens , which relocated to the Northside in 1925 and has since doubled in size. There is no consistent definition for what constitute the boundaries of the Northside, but studies have revealed the vernacular region to be considered roughly north of the Urban Core and Westside at 20th Street, and west and north of the St. Johns River . The Northside area has yielded some of

2300-503: Is located at the northern tip of Fort George Island at Fort George Inlet, and is part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve managed by the U.S. National Park Service . Kingsley's house is the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida, and the solidly-built village of slave cabins is one of the best preserved in the United States. It is also "the oldest surviving antebellum Spanish Colonial plantation in

2415-527: Is located in Duval County , several miles northeast of downtown Jacksonville . It is a marsh island at the mouth of the St. Johns River , surrounded by tidal estuaries , Little Talbot Island , and the Nassau River. The north Atlantic coast of Florida had been inhabited for approximately 12,000 years when Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed near Cape Canaveral in 1513. The Spanish met

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2530-527: Is prosperous. Kingsley died in the next year, while en route to New York City to work on a land deal. Anna returned to Florida in 1846 to settle an inheritance dispute with some of her husband's white relatives; because the will had been made under Spanish law, when inheritance by free blacks was legal, the court ruled in her favor and control of the Kingsley's holdings in Florida remained with her and her children for several years. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs sold

2645-483: The Florida Legislature to accomplish many objectives. The Legislature generally deferred to the decision of the county delegation on whether to enact such special legislation, which gave the county delegation in a particular county great political influence. Following the adoption of a new Constitution, effective January 7, 1969, home rule powers of cities and counties were expanded, and the influence of

2760-541: The Gulf Coast of Florida . By 1562, Jean Ribault led French explorers to the mouth of the St. Johns River where they built a garrison in 1564, calling it Fort Caroline . Within 200 years the population of the indigenous people of Florida was decimated by disease and constant fighting. They left behind evidence of their existence in massive middens or shell mounds filled with discarded food byproducts. On Fort George Island,

2875-590: The Jacksonville Historical Society , the city "became the largest city in land area in the entire world", a distinction it eventually yielded to Juneau, Alaska . All land in Duval County is considered part of Jacksonville except the four independent municipalities of Jacksonville Beach , Atlantic Beach , Neptune Beach and Baldwin . Residents of these towns vote in city elections and are eligible for other services. Jacksonville

2990-708: The National Park Service in 1988. Several sites, including Fort Caroline and other ecologically significant properties in Jacksonville, are under the management of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Kingsley Plantation was transferred to the National Park Service in 1991. Kingsley's plantations, first at Laurel Grove and then at Fort George, were the headquarters of his slave trading business. Kingsley owned

3105-803: The Palmetto' s route was shortened to end in Savannah, Georgia and in 2005 the Sunset Limited was shortened to end at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal as a result of Hurricane Katrina . However, the Sunset Limited has been proposed to return in the future. Construction of the Dames Point Bridge began in 1985 and was completed in 1989. The bridge crosses the St. Johns River using

3220-686: The Republican Party , with which most blacks had been allied since they were granted the franchise as freedmen following the Civil War. In the 1960s, a grand jury indicted 11 Jacksonville and Duval County officials on 142 counts of bribery and larceny including: The city tax assessor took the Fifth Amendment , refused to testify, and resigned. Claude Yates had recently retired as vice president and general manager of Southern Bell in Jacksonville and been named president of

3335-536: The Saint Johns River about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) inland of the river's mouth and travels in an east–west direction for approximately 2,000 feet (610 m) on State Road A1A . Departures still occur daily every half-hour. Jacksonville Consolidation The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County , Florida . It

3450-560: The Saturiwa , a Timucua tribe, who were the largest group of indigenous people in the region, numbering about 14,000. Bands of Timucua extended into central Florida and south Georgia . An estimated 35 chiefdoms existed in the territory, and their societies were complex with large villages sustained by fishing, hunting, and agriculture, but they frequently warred with each other and unrelated groups of Native Americans. The Spanish concentrated their efforts of exploration and settlement on

3565-491: The St. Johns River and many of the other tributaries of the Trout River. The river is 6.4 miles (10.3 km) long. Black Hammock Island is an island in a marsh area at the edge of Jacksonville, Florida , in the United States. It lies almost directly adjacent to the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve . Cedar Point is located at the south end of Black Hammock Island. There are numerous neighborhoods located within

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3680-479: The U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). The foundations of the house, kitchen, barn, and the slave quarters were constructed of durable tabby concrete . Archeological evidence found in and around the slave cabins has given researchers insight into African traditions among slaves who had recently arrived in North America. Zephaniah Kingsley wrote a defense of slavery and the three-tier social system that acknowledged

3795-515: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 , that provided federal oversight and enforcement of their right to vote, and whites in the suburbs, who wanted more services and more control over the central city. Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of the community, better public spending, and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government. Amtrak's Jacksonville station at

3910-399: The matriarch in the polygamous family. Historian Daniel Schafer posits that Anna Jai would have been familiar with the concepts of polygamy and marrying a slave master to acquire one's freedom. Visitors to the plantation were invited to a dinner table where Kingsley displayed his multi-racial children with pride. He provided them with the best education he could afford, and considered them

4025-546: The mouth of the river's longest tributary, the Ribault River . A notable feature itself, the Ribault River is named after Jean Ribault , a French naval officer. The river's headwaters are near Old Kings Road at an elevation of 7 feet (2.1 m) above sea level. The river cuts through the forest floor near its source, that portion of the river being classified as a creek . The river flows northward, as does

4140-428: The remains of a Spanish mission named San Juan del Puerto . Under British rule in 1765, a plantation was established that cycled through several owners while Florida was transferred back to Spain and then the United States. The longest span of ownership was under Kingsley and his family, a polygamous and multiracial household controlled by and resistant to the issues of race and slavery . The principal business at

4255-402: The 1820s or 1830s, although evidence exists that indicates two of them were inhabited by 1814. Tabby was constructed of shells left over from Timucua middens , burned by the barrel-full in open pits or kilns, then pounded into lime particles, mixed with water, sand, and whole oyster or clam shells, then poured into wooden foundations about 1 foot (0.3 m) high, and set to dry. The process

4370-513: The 1890s John Rollins tore down several of the slave cabins so as to build a boathouse and dock using the tabby slabs. The archeological significance of the site is considerable as the majority of slave quarters in the Southern United States were not built with quality materials, and most quarters were destroyed after emancipation . In 2010, the plantation's cemetery was discovered by historical archaeologist Dr. Brittany Brown,

4485-505: The Beaches, Northside is considered one of the large regions of Jacksonville, and the remaining municipalities in Duval County. As the name would suggest, the Northside consist of areas in northern Jacksonville, but there is no consistent definition for what constitute the boundaries of the region. The geographer John W. McEwen determined, using a Geographic Information System to sort names of 47 businesses with "Northside" in their name, that

4600-743: The Clifford Lane facility has been in operation since 1974, when it replaced the downtown Union Station, now the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center . It currently serves the Silver Meteor and Silver Star trains as well as the Amtrak Thruway to Lakeland . Other services once used this station, including the Champion , Floridian , Florida Special , Palmetto , Silver Palm , Sunset Limited and Vacationer . In 2004

4715-665: The Fort George Island plantation in 1852 and moved to St Augustine . Anna Jai moved with about 70 former slaves to the Arlington neighborhood of Jacksonville, where she lived out her remaining years. The ownership of the island and farms immediately following its sale by Gibbs is unknown, but after the American Civil War , the Freedmen's Bureau managed the island and recently emancipated freedmen lived in

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4830-474: The Fort George plantation is a unique two-story house that was constructed between 1797 and 1798 by John McQueen, who indicated in a letter at the time that he had built a comfortable house for himself. The house—resembling 17th-century British gentry homes —has a large center room and four one-story pavilions at each corner that allowed air to circulate through them to keep them cooler in the summer; each

4945-618: The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce in 1964 when all 15 public high schools lost their accreditation; they were still segregated despite the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the US Supreme Court. That year Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act that ended legal racial segregation of public facilities, and the state was working to adapt to other changes. On January 19, 1965 Yates called

5060-634: The Kingsley Heritage Celebration that coincides with the Kingsley family reunion. Several relatives of Kingsley and Anna Jai are notable. Kingsley's youngest sister's daughter, Anna McNeill , participated with her mother in attempting to block Anna Jai from inheriting Kingsley's property. McNeill served as the model for her son, the artist James Whistler , in his Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother , popularly known as Whistler's Mother . Kingsley Beatty Gibbs' brother

5175-556: The Kingsley Plantation represented a massive construction effort which attests to the apparent success of this innovation. The floors of the kitchen house and the basement of the owner's house were also constructed of tabby. The material made the houses remarkably durable, resistant to weather and insects, better insulated than wood, and the ingredients were accessible and cheap, although labor-intensive. The slave quarters at Kingsley Plantation are widely considered some of

5290-407: The Kingsley Plantation was slaves: buying, selling, and training them. Kingsley's slaves commanded a premium in the market. Raising salable cotton was a secondary business. As they were very isolated they also had to raise their food, in small gardens. By the standards of the day Kingsley treated his slaves well—he married one—and they were loyal to him. Free blacks and several private owners lived at

5405-664: The LGSC submitted a consolidation proposal entitled, Blueprint for Improvement . The legislative delegation altered the plan slightly to make it more appealing and ordered it to be placed on a referendum in 1967. Claude Yates also helped promote the government merger plan. Yates led the Citizens for Better Government committee, which successfully disseminated information about the advantages of consolidation to voters who had consistently defeated consolidation referendums since 1935. Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of

5520-649: The Mocama. In 1612, he printed a catechism in Spanish and Timucua, the first book printed in an indigenous language of the Americas. This became one of the three principal missions in what the Spanish called the Mocama Province, together with San Pedro de Mocama (serving the Tacatacuru chiefdom) on Cumberland Island and Santa Maria de Sena between them on Amelia Island . After 1650, Guale refugees from

5635-772: The Northside area. Established in 1970, the North Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville is one of four campuses located throughout the city, the other being the Downtown Campus, Kent Campus, and South Campus. In 2009, in recognition of a shortage of four-year colleges in the state, the Florida Legislature passed legislation creating the Florida College System , enabling some community colleges to become " state colleges ", meaning they can offer more bachelor's degrees than traditional community colleges, but no graduate degree programs. FCCJ

5750-401: The Northside include the following: The Northside is home to the following notable cemeteries: The Northside is also home to an array of other operations with the intent is to preserve land for the public good. These include: The Duval County Public Schools district operates public schools, including Andrew Jackson High School , Jean Ribault High School and First Coast High School , in

5865-432: The Northside, ceased operations. The airport covers 7,911 acres (3,201 ha) and has two concrete runways : 8/26, 10,000 x 150 ft (3,048 x 46 m) and 14/32, 7,701 x 150 ft (2,347 x 46 m). The terminal at JIA is composed of a baggage claim area, on the first floor and a ticketing area on the second floor, at the front of the structure. Past baggage claim and ticketing is the mezzanine, where shops, restaurants and

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5980-678: The Rollins heirs by the Fort George Corporation, which then leased 58 acres, including the Kingsley Plantation buildings, to the Army and Navy Country Club of Florida. Renamed the Fort George Club in 1926, the club built a new clubhouse in 1927 adjacent to the plantation house, which was used as an annex for additional accommodations. The clubhouse burned in 1936, but was rebuilt in 1938, with the plantation house serving as

6095-529: The South, a culinary school with its own restaurant, and a cosmetology program. The North Campus includes the college's baseball and softball facilities. Jacksonville International Airport ( IATA : JAX , ICAO : KJAX , FAA LID : JAX ) is a major regional passenger air service provider, featuring non-stop flights to dozens of major US cities. The facility opened on Jacksonville's Northside in 1968. Commercial air service at Imeson Field , also located in

6210-453: The Spanish colonial government read Let it be known that I ... possessed as a slave a black woman called Anna, around eighteen years of age, bought as a bozal [newly imported African] in the port of Havana from a slave cargo, who with the permission of the government was introduced here; the said black woman has given birth to three mulatto children: George, about 3 years 9 months, Martha, 20 months old, an Mary, one month old. And regarding

6325-402: The Spanish government, which rewarded McQueen with the island. McQueen settled with 300 slaves and constructed a large house in a unique architectural style exhibiting four corner pavilions surrounding a great room. McQueen was soon bankrupt due to misfortunes, and the possession of the plantation turned over to John McIntosh (1773–1836) from Georgia who revived it in 1804. McIntosh, however, took

6440-459: The US, suffered from the effects of urban sprawl , with the city losing tax base to new residential and business development in the suburbs, which also drew out jobs. Both the city and county suffered corruption scandals, following virtual one-party rule by Democrats since the turn of the 20th century, when the state legislature had disenfranchised most African Americans and effectively hollowed out

6555-410: The United States." The plantation originally occupied the entirety of Fort George Island, described variously as occupying 713, 720, or "750 acres [300 ha] more or less". According to park literature, most of it has been taken back over by forest; the structures and grounds of the park now comprise approximately 60 acres (24 ha). Evidence of pre-Columbian Timucua life is on the island, as are

6670-569: The Visitor Center for Fort George Island . The Florida Park Service acquired most of Fort George Island in 1955, including the plantation houses, barn, and slave quarters, calling it the Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site. An effort to restore the property to its appearance while the Kingsley family was in residence began in 1967. The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve was created by

6785-575: The all-black American Beach . The Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch family has been active in Jacksonville's black community for decades. Spelman College 's first black female president, Johnnetta Betsch Cole , is descended from Lewis and Sammis. The Heritage Celebration was moved to Black History Month in February 2008; Cole was the keynote speaker of the 2009 Kingsley Heritage Celebration. Interpretive events such as music, storytelling, and ranger-led talks about history and archeology regularly occur during

6900-696: The area around what is today Guinea , and a few from Zanzibar . Archeologist Charles H. Fairbanks received a Florida Park Service grant to study artifacts found at the slave quarters. His findings, published in 1968, initiated further interest and research in African-American archeology in the U.S. Concentrating on two particular cabins bordering on Palmetto Avenue, Fairbanks found cooking pots used in fireplaces, animal bones—fish, pigs, raccoons, and turtles—discarded as food byproducts, and musket balls and fishing weights. Fairbanks described Kingsley as "an unusually permissive slave owner" who wrote about

7015-522: The area is roughly considered to be north of the Urban Core and north of Westside at 20th Street, and stretching west and north of the St. Johns River . The Trout River is one of the most defining geographic feature of the Northside. The 20-mile-long (32 km) long tributary of the St. Johns River is located entirely within Jacksonville's Northside, and is considered brackish in its lower section. The Trout River has wetlands as far as

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7130-438: The best in the house. You ought to go, to see how happy the human race can be. It is a fine, rich valley, about thirty miles from Port Platte; heavily timbered with mahogany all round; well watered; flowers so beautiful; fruits in abundance, so delicious that you could not refrain from stopping to eat, till you could eat no more. My sons have laid out good roads, and built bridges and mills; the people are improving, and everything

7245-456: The best surviving examples of the use of this building material. Each cabin consisted of a room, fireplace, and sleeping loft. The arrangement of the quarters is distinctive: there were originally 32 cabins laid out in a semicircular arc interrupted by the main thoroughfare to the plantation, Palmetto Avenue. This formation is unique in plantations in the antebellum U.S. The historian Daniel Stowell surmises that it may have given slave families

7360-452: The best. The production of agricultural products that could be sold was a welcome side venture. Labor at Kingsley Plantation was carried out by the task system: each slave was given an assigned set of tasks for the day, such as processing 20–30 lb (9–14 kg) of cotton or constructing three barrels for a slave who was a cooper . When the day's jobs were completed, slaves were free to do as they chose. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs described

7475-568: The city and county governments merged to create the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, winning voter approval the year prior. Fire, police, health & welfare, recreation, public works, and housing & urban development were all unified under the new government. The consolidation created a 900-square-mile entity. Jacksonville Consolidation was led by J. J. Daniel and Claude Yates , who found support from both inner-city blacks, who wanted more involvement in government after passage of

7590-565: The city purchased the land and converted the property into a public park. On July 19, 1925, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens moved to a 37.5-acre (152,000 m) site on the Trout River, off Heckscher Drive. The zoo had formerly operated in the Springfield neighborhood since May 12, 1914. The Jacksonville Municipal Airport opened on October 11, 1927, at the intersection of North Main Street ( U.S. 17 ) and Busch Drive. The dedication ceremony

7705-533: The clubhouse in the meantime. Financial difficulties due to the Depression, along with an aging membership, however, caused the club to decline, and in 1948 the club ceased operations and put its real estate on the market. The clubhouse has been torn down. The Ribault Club , built in 1928 and restored in 2003, is on the National Register of Historic Sites and is today run by the state of Florida as

7820-679: The community, better public spending and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government. Influential individuals who supported consolidation included: Duval county voters approved the consolidation referendum 54,493 - 29,768 on August 8, 1967 but the old government did not go quietly. A lawsuit was filed by a few elected officials contesting consolidation because their term in office would be shortened and they would be required to face re-election after one year in office. Other elected officials attempted to pass zoning changes or sign long-term government contracts for their friends. After

7935-494: The county delegation declined. In response, the 1965 Florida Legislature created the Local Government Study Commission (LGSC). The legislature chose J. J. Daniel as chairman to design a new government and write its charter. Daniel was known, according to The Florida Times , for his "powerful personality, unquestioned integrity, strong leadership and history of civic involvement." Lex Hester

8050-538: The design, while Balfour Beatty was selected as the construction manager for the concourse B project. Northside is served by several Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) bus routes. These routes include the following: Major limited access highways: Major arterial highways: The Saint Johns River Ferry, also known as the Mayport Ferry , has been operating between Mayport and Fort George Island since 1874. The 0.9 miles (1.4 km) voyage crosses

8165-424: The doors and the wooden slave quarters had been burned down. John Rollins later added sections to the east and west sides of the house in between the pavilions in the 1890s and removed at least three of the fireplace chimneys from the pavilions. One of the clubs that owned the island in the 1920s added electricity. Next to the main house was a two-story kitchen house that was called "Ma'am Anna House" while Anna Jai

8280-457: The estate from McIntosh. He purchased the land and buildings for $ 7,000 in 1817. Today, it is now known as Kingsley Plantation . Free blacks and several private owners lived at the plantation until it was transferred to the State of Florida in 1955. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1991. The main house, kitchen and numerous slave quarters have survived. The Northside began to grow as

8395-470: The first plantation on Fort George Island in 1765, harvesting indigo with several dozen enslaved Africans. Spain regained ownership of Florida in 1783 after the American Revolution and recruited new Americans with promises of free land. In 1793, American Revolution veteran John McQueen was lured to Fort George Island from South Carolina by the Spanish government, which rewarded McQueen with

8510-637: The former slave quarters and farmed the land. A New Hampshire farmer named John Rollins (1835–1905) purchased the island in 1869 and made extensive changes to the plantation house, which had been vacant. Finding agriculture in Florida not as successful as he wished, he transitioned the island into a tourist resort, building a large luxury hotel, the Fort George Hotel (1875), and attracting celebrities such as banker William Astor and writer Harriet Beecher Stowe . The slave quarters were displayed as tourist attractions. The hotel burned down in 1888 and

8625-505: The good qualities shown by the said black woman, the nicety and fidelity which she has shown me, and for other reasons, I have resolved to set her free ... and the same to her three children. Marriages between white plantation owners and African women were common in East Florida. The Spanish government provided for a separate class of free people of color , and encouraged slaves to purchase their freedom. Slavery under Spain in Florida

8740-484: The inlet. It is the oldest surviving plantation house in the state. The main house protected John McQueen's family and neighbors during attacks from invading Creeks in 1802; he wrote that at one time 26 people took refuge there. Following raids from Americans during the Patriot Rebellion in 1813, the house was gutted and vandalized. Plantations as far south as New Smyrna were destroyed by rebels fleeing into Georgia. When Kingsley arrived, there were no metal fixtures in

8855-689: The island are also located near the plantation; according to Pleasant Gold in her History of Duval County , 1928, inscriptions subsequently destroyed stated that they were the 1808 tombs of a daughter and sister of John McIntosh, who owned the plantation before Kingsley. Ruins of another tabby house sit near the entrance of Palmetto Avenue. According to park literature, it is called the Munsilna McGundo House for Kingsley's fourth wife, as Kingsley, referring to it as "her house", left it to her and her daughter Fatima in his will. More recently it has been referred to as Thomson Tabby House, named for

8970-479: The island. McQueen settled with 300 slaves and constructed a large house, but was soon bankrupt due to misfortunes. Possession of the plantation turned over to John McIntosh from Georgia, who revived it in 1804. McIntosh, however, took a leading role in an insurgency attempting to annex Florida into the United States. Unsuccessful, McIntosh fled back into Georgia to escape punishment from the Spanish. Zephaniah Kingsley settled on Fort George Island in 1814, after leasing

9085-645: The land and buildings for $ 7,000 in 1817 (equivalent to $ 133,525 in 2023). Kingsley owned several plantations around the lower St. Johns River in what is today Jacksonville, and Drayton Island in central Florida; two of them may have been managed part-time by his wife, a former slave named Anna Madgigine Jai (1793–1870). Kingsley married Anna in 1806 when she was 13 years old, recently arrived in Cuba from West Africa. He freed her in 1811 and charged her with running his Laurel Grove plantation at Doctors Lake in modern-day Orange Park . His legal emancipation submitted to

9200-550: The mouth of the St. Johns River , on Fort George Island , San Juan del Puerto was a Spanish Franciscan mission , founded some time before 1587. It was founded to serve the Saturiwa , a Timucua tribe who lived in the area. It has an important place in the study of the Timucua, as the place where Father Francisco Pareja undertook his work on the Timucua language . He devised a system of writing for Timucuan and taught some of

9315-502: The new government in what he termed its "spirit of intolerant prejudice", Kingsley sent his wives, children, and a few slaves to Haiti , by that time a free black republic. His two daughters had already married white planters and remained in Florida. He sold the plantation to his nephew, Kingsley Beatty Gibbs , in 1839, and transferred some of the slaves to his plantation in San José, now a neighborhood in Jacksonville. Kingsley started

9430-412: The next chiefdom to the north along the (present-day) Georgia coast were settled at the mission. The Spanish abandoned the mission around 1702, partly in response to raids from Native Americans and allied English colonists from South Carolina during Queen Anne's War . The United Kingdom took ownership of Florida in 1763, and quickly established several plantations in the region. Richard Hazard owned

9545-520: The oldest known pottery from what is now the United States, uncovered by a University of North Florida team on Black Hammock Island in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve . The team also excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the Mocama chiefdoms and some that indicate a Spanish mission. Archaeological research dates human habitation in the area eventually known as the Mocama Province to at least 2500 BC. Established near

9660-477: The only one north of the St. Johns River . The 125-acre (0.51 km) shopping district is located south of Airport Road on the east side of Interstate 95 , two miles (3 km) east of Jacksonville International Airport . When Phase II is fully built out, the project will have cost over $ 300 million to build and boast more than 100 retailers. Together with the Urban Core, Arlington, Southside, Westside and

9775-478: The owner's house is open for guided tours on a limited basis each weekend. The barn is being renovated and is now open. Despite the durability of the slave quarters, they are vulnerable to vandalism , and each cabin shows evidence of damage. One room of the kitchen house is open and contains exhibits. Since 1998 Kingsley Plantation has hosted an annual one-day event, originally in October, later in February, called

9890-516: The physical superiority of Africans to Europeans, armed his slaves for protection, and gave them padlocks for their cabins. Historian Daniel Stowell suggests that the cabins and Kingsley's hands-off approach to slave management was intended to prevent the slaves from running away. Kingsley himself wrote about not interfering in his slaves' family lives and "encouraged as much as possible dancing, merriment and dress, for which Saturday afternoon and night, and Sunday morning were dedicated." Kingsley used

10005-421: The plantation as his slave trading headquarters, training slaves for specific tasks to increase their value at sale. He developed them as skilled artisans and educated them about agriculture and planting. Those who had been trained by Kingsley fetched a much higher price at sale, on average 50 percent higher than market price. The slave houses were constructed out of tabby and built by the slaves probably in

10120-475: The plantation until it was purchased by the State of Florida in 1955. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1991. The most prominent features of Kingsley Plantation are the owner's house—a structure of architectural significance built probably between 1797 and 1798 that is cited as being the oldest surviving plantation house in the state —and an attached kitchen house, barn, and remains of 25 anthropologically valuable slave cabins that endured beyond

10235-408: The region. Richard Hazard owned the first plantation on Fort George Island in 1765, harvesting indigo with several dozen enslaved Africans. Spain regained ownership of Florida in 1783 after the American Revolution and recruited new Americans with promises of free land. In 1793, American Revolution veteran John "Lightning" McQueen (1751–1807) was lured to Fort George Island from South Carolina by

10350-558: The rights of free people of color that existed in Florida under Spanish rule. Kingsley briefly served on the Florida Territorial Council . Kingsley Plantation was not Kingsley's only or even his primary plantation. His plantation on Drayton Island has not been studied. "At the other end of Fort George, now Batten Island, he built himself a house of some size, which is now [1878] in ruins; there lived Flora, his black mistress. He divided his time about equally between

10465-697: The security checkpoint are located. Beyond the mezzanine are the airport's Concourses A and C, which include 10 gates each (for a total of 20), along with other shops and restaurants. In 2018, the airport handled 6,460,253 passengers, breaking the previous record set in 2007. This increase in traffic prompted the JAA to revive the plan to rebuild concourse B. The new concourse could open as early as 2022, providing six additional gates and could be expanded later with six more. The design of concourses A and C also allow them to be extended to accommodate additional gates. In 2019, RS&H and Jacobs Engineering were chosen to perform

10580-561: The shells were primarily oysters. Ownership of Florida transferred to the United Kingdom in 1763. Spanish settlers had established missions—including one on Fort George Island named San Juan del Puerto that eventually gave the nearby St. Johns River its name—but their frequent battles with the Timucua and a decline in mission activity curbed development. When the British controlled Florida, they established several plantations in

10695-548: The task system in his journal: October 5, 1841—No work was done today, as all the people have it to gather their own crop—It is a rule which we have, to give all the negroes one day in the spring to plant, and one day in the fall to reap, and as there is a rule on Sea Island plantations fixing the tasks required each day to be done, it occurs, during the long days of summer, that the hand is generally done his task by 2 p.m., often sooner, so they have abundance of time to work their own crop, fish, etc., etc. This task system of slavery

10810-479: The tools the slaves used. In one cabin an intact sacrificed chicken on top of an egg was unearthed, adding evidence to the hypothesis that African slaves kept many of their traditions alive in North America. Archeologists also discovered evidence of an added-on porch to one of the cabins facing away from the main house, an atypical feature for a slave cabin, as owners and overseers usually constructed quarters to be within their view at all times. The main residence of

10925-636: The two places." "In the 1830 census he owned only 39 slaves at the present Fort George site, but 188 at a little-known San José plantation, in Nassau County . In 1836 he moved his entire family from Florida, since Kingsley's free Blacks were ever more unwelcome and insecure, to a plantation called Mayorasgo de Koka , at the time in Haiti but from the 1840s in the Dominican Republic . Little remains of Mayorasgo de Koka. Fort George Island

11040-717: The undersigned, respectfully request the Duval County Delegation to the Florida Legislature to prepare an enabling act calling for the citizens of Duval County to vote on the consolidation of government within Duval to secure more efficient and effective government under one governmental body. Under the Florida Constitution as it existed at that time, cities and counties had limited home rule powers and often needed special legislation by

11155-558: The vast area of the Northside. These include, but are not limited to, Black Hammock Island, Brentwood, Dinsmore, Fort George Island, Garden City , Highlands, Lake Forest, Longbranch, Moncrief Park, Norwood, Panama Park, Pecan Park, Oceanway, Ribault, Riverview, Royal Terrance, San Mateo and Tallulah-North Shore. The Northside has protected lands operated by a variety of entities, including the National Park Service , Florida State Parks , City of Jacksonville Department of Parks and Recreation, and other private ventures. The Timucuan Preserve

11270-535: The week preceding Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005. Four of the vessels docked at JAXPORT terminals, providing over 3,500 rooms plus restaurants and night clubs for fans. As of 2019, cruises from Jacksonville visit the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean on board the Carnival Ecstasy . River City Marketplace opened on November 17, 2006 as the only quasi-regional outdoor shopping mall in the Northside, and

11385-493: Was George Couper Gibbs, a planter in St. Johns County , south of Fort George Island near St. Augustine. Former governor of South Carolina Duncan Clinch Heyward is descended from him. Another branch of Kingsley descendants lives in the Dominican Republic near where John Maxwell Kingsley lived in Haiti. Kingsley and Anna Jai are the great-grandparents of Mary Kingsley Sammis, who married Abraham Lincoln Lewis , one of Florida's first black millionaires and an original investor in

11500-457: Was Kingsley's response to these restrictions; he favored the Spanish three-tier system of white landowners, black slaves, and freed blacks. The pamphlet was reprinted again in 1834, and Southerners used its arguments to defend slavery in debates leading to the Civil War. The Florida Territorial Council passed laws that forbade interracial marriage and the inheriting of property by free blacks or mixed race descendants. To avoid difficulties with

11615-409: Was a bedroom that had a fireplace to heat more efficiently in the winter. The second story of the house has two large rooms. In the cellar there were "secret, walled-up spaces"; on the roof is a widow's walk . The house faces Fort George Inlet and features separate porches on the front and rear of the house. When Kingsley owned the property, a brick walkway joined the porch to a now-vanished wharf on

11730-595: Was annexed by Jacksonville in 1925. Riverview is a neighborhood bordered by the Trout River to the North and East, Ribault River to the South, and Ribault Ave to the West. Riverview was originally platted in 1911 by Dr. E.H. Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong also converted his 25-acre waterfront home property into Riverview Tropical Gardens, an attraction with boating, fishing and garden trails of roses, azaleas, and lilies. In 1979,

11845-588: Was common among sea island plantations in the Southeastern United States . In contrast, cotton and tobacco plantations in Virginia and other parts of the South practiced the gang system, where an overseer who was also a slave drove slaves to work the entire day. Slaves on Fort George Island were African or first generation African American. Records and archeological information show they were Igbo and Calabari from Nigeria , and others from

11960-567: Was effected on October 1, 1968. In 1934, the Florida Constitution was amended to give the Florida Legislature the “power to establish, alter or abolish, a Municipal corporation to be known as the City of Jacksonville, extending territorially throughout the present limits of Duval County," but for many years thereafter, the Legislature did not exercise the power. Through the 1960s, Jacksonville, like many other large cities in

12075-535: Was hired as the executive director of the LGSC. He was the "key architect of Jacksonville's consolidated government", transition coordinator and chief administrative officer following consolidation. Claude Yates was among the 50 business and civic leaders invited to participate; elected officials and government employees were intentionally excluded. On October 1, 1965 the commission was established and given until May 1, 1967 to complete their work. In January, 1967, after 15 months of effort and three months ahead of schedule,

12190-670: Was intended to be a temporary structure. Maintained by the Jacksonville Port Authority , the cruise ship terminal is located near the Dames Point Bridge , on the northern banks of the St. Johns River. Celebrity Cruises began regular service from Jacksonville on October 27, 2003, discontinuing service in 2005. The ship Carnival Miracle was christened at the Port of Jacksonville on February 27, 2004, beginning Jacksonville service by Carnival Cruise Lines . Five cruise ships were chartered to serve as floating hotels during

12305-547: Was not considered a lifelong condition, and free blacks were involved in the economic development of the region, many of them owning their own slaves. Anna oversaw 60 slaves at Fort George Island, who grew sea island cotton , citrus , corn, sugarcane , beans, and potatoes. John Maxwell, the fourth child, was born in 1824 when Kingsley and Anna lived on Fort George Island. Kingsley also maintained relationships with three other African women who acted as co-wives or concubines: Flora H., Sarah M.; and Munsilna McGundo. Anna Jai remained

12420-479: Was not rebuilt; it would have had competition from the new Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, accessible by railroad. The Rollins family turned to citrus cultivation until a freeze in 1894 destroyed their trees. Rollins' daughter's family was the last to live in the main house; she sold the island to private investors in 1923. Two clubs were constructed on the island for well-to-do Jacksonville residents. In 1923, 208 acres of Fort George Island were purchased from

12535-532: Was notably attended by Charles Lindbergh , who flew to Jacksonville in the " Spirit of St. Louis " to promote the new airport. Eastern Air Service (later known as Eastern Air Lines ) was the first passenger airline to service Jacksonville, beginning in 1931. By 1941 the airport had expanded to 600 acres (240 ha) adding five hangars, a terminal building and five asphalt runways. The first scheduled jet flights were Northeast Convair 880s in April–May 1961. The facility

12650-465: Was on Fort George Island. It was probably built in the 1820s and doubled as a center for food preparation on the ground floor and Anna Jai's residence with her children on the second. In West Africa, polygamy was common, and wives often lived in separate quarters from their husbands. Kingsley's nephew and his wife also lived on the grounds and Gibbs probably used a part of the second floor for an office. The main house and Ma'am Anna House were surrounded by

12765-490: Was one of the first community colleges to make the change, and, also in 2009, announced the change to their "Florida Community College at Jacksonville" to their current name, "Florida State College at Jacksonville". located off Dunn Avenue, near I-295, it houses many of FSCJ's health programs, including nursing , dental hygiene , and emergency medical services . North Campus also includes the Culinary Institute of

12880-492: Was renamed after Thomas Cole Imeson in the 1950s. Imeson's work led to the creation of the Jacksonville Municipal Airport, as well as improvements to its runways, hangars and terminal buildings. Imeson Field served as the city's main airport for 42 years. Jacksonville International Airport , also located on the Northside, was dedicated on September 1, 1968, replacing Imeson Field. On October 1, 1968,

12995-421: Was repeated and stacked until the desired height of the wall was reached. In the construction of tabby buildings at the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island, Florida, ...wooden or metal boxes with handles, that varied from twelve to thirty-six inches in height [0.3 – 0.9 m], were devised to take the place of forms which had to be dismantled and reassembled for each level. The twenty-four tabby slave houses at

13110-426: Was significant as it was the deadline for submitting requests for the upcoming state legislative session. At the time, the legislature met for only 60 days every other year. These business and civic leaders signed a 45-word petition to the Duval County legislative delegation, consisting of State Senator John E. Mathews and Representative Fred Schultz, that would later be dubbed as the "Yates Manifesto". It stated: We,

13225-498: Was the second consolidated government in the state of Florida and one of ten in the nation. Kingsley Plantation Kingsley Plantation (also known as the Zephaniah Kingsley Plantation Home and Buildings ) is the site of a former estate on Fort George Island , in Duval County, Florida , that was named for its developer and most famous owner, Zephaniah Kingsley , who spent 25 years there. It

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