| These are the stories of Jacksonville, Florida, true and strange, place by place.

The Story of Lord Ranch, Old Kings Road

Posted on September 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

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People say the old meatpacking plant and farmhouse is haunted. Lavaughn Lord worked as hard in the slaughterhouse as Charlie and there was no ranch work her husband did that she wouldn’t do. It was, in part, the pain that drove them out to Old Kings Road. It seems strange that Charles, Jr. never knew the ranch that people associated with his family for 40 years.

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Tagged Albert Crabtree, Ben Williams, Charles Lord, Charlie Lord, Congaree and Penn, David Merritt, Donna Bellamy Masters, Jeff Meyer, Kirkland Meat Market Marietta Jacksonville, Lavaughn Lord, Lindsey Meyer, Lord Ranch, Michael Faulk, Old Kings Road, Scott Meyer, Tim Gilmore

Vote, 2020, against the Terrorist Tactics of 1920

Posted on September 13, 2020 | Leave a comment

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It’s been 100 years. Since women got the right to vote. Since Eartha White ran that registration drive. Since the Ku Klux Klan marched in intimidation parades all over Florida. Tiny Eartha White stood up against a terrorist giant. Klan members hid behind patriotism and appeals to “law and order.” Local newspapers wrote of the Klan with reverence and mystery. Across Florida, people died for wanting to vote. Across the United States, people wrote of what happened in Jacksonville. If you find yourself intimidated this election year, think of Eartha White. This story ends on an up note. Click below for it.

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Tagged 19th amendment, A.C. Shuler, Anna Fletcher, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, BossCity and Headfirst, Bowman Cook, Carlos Bee Texas, Clara White Mission, Duncan Fletcher, Eartha M.M. White, Eartha Mary Magdalene White, Eartha White, Election Day 1920 Florida, First Baptist Church, Florida Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, God's Trombones, Grand Park, Hemming Park, Invisible empire, Jacksonville Woman's Club, James Weldon Johnson, James Weldon Johnson Jacksonville, James Weldon Johnson Park, jax psycho geo, John Morine, July Perry, Ku Klux Klan, Law and Order Ku Klux Klan, Lift Every Voice and Sing, Lost Cause Movement, Ocoee Massacre, Paul Ortiz, Perry Massacre, R.E. Merritt, Rosewood Massacre, Seattle Union Record, St. James Building, Tim Gilmore, Victoria Woodhull, W.A. Hobson, Walter F. White, Walter White Jacksonville, William Washington Larsen Georgia

The Oldest House at Atlantic Beach: The Christopher / Bull / Hionides House

Posted on September 7, 2020 | Leave a comment

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It’s the oldest house at Atlantic Beach, its original owner’s “party house,” home to the family of the town’s first mayor for seven decades, to the Hionides family for three. Here the fate of black Manhattan Beach played out and the mysterious Jax blues musician Sugar Underwood played at dances. Inside, bright sunlight coruscates across golden heartwood pine. Outside, grandchildren run up from the ocean.

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Tagged Alfred du Pont, Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach Corporation, Atlantic Beach Hotel, Avondale, Blind Blake, Chris Hionides, Christopher Aguilar, Davis Street Blues, Deerwood Country Club, Dew Drop Alley, Dew Drop Alley Stomp, Don Mabry, Doyle Carlton, Edward Ball, Florida Land Boom, Foundation Academy, FSCJ Downtown Campus, Gamal Abdel Nasser, George Bull, Hansontown, Harcourt Bull, Henry Flagler, Jacksonville Blues, Jacksonville Science Fair, Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage, jax psycho geo, jaxpsychogeo, Jesse Ball du Pont, John G. Ch, John G. Christopher, Joseph Davin, Jr., Landon Junior and Senior High School, Manhattan Beach, Mary Bull, Mary Lou Bull, Mat(t)hew Emanuel “Sugar” Underwood, Mayport Naval Station, Murray Hall, Murray Hall Hotel, Mutamassirun, Nadia Hionides, Pablo Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Queen of the St. Johns, RCBS Corporation, Richard Bull, Ruby Florida, San Marco, Seminole Cyprus Lumber Company, Sr., Stockton Whatley Davin, Subjinski House, Subjinski House Jacksonville Beach, Telfair Stockton Company, The Row Riverside Avenue, Tim Gilmore, William Morgan, William Morgan architect

New Story: Community Loaves / Rosenberger House

Posted on August 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

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The Rosenberger House stands still, but its lives have circuited great distances. Now it’s the new home for Community Loaves. This old brick Murray Hill house would never have been built but for those immigrants from Germany and that Pittsburgh streetcar tragedy. Community Loaves would never have revived this former boarding house but for Meredith’s environmentalism and her “woofing” on farms across the ocean. From the Rosenbergers’ pets and “the best mouser in Murray Hill” to the best birthday cake in town, click here for the full story.

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Tagged Albert Rosenberger, Bud Rosenberger, Buddy Rosenberger, Community Loaves, Community Loaves Jacksonville, Community Loaves Murray Hill, Congaree and Penn, Eat Your Yard Jax, Elfreda Rosenberger, Ernie Rosenberger, Johanna Rose Mengen Schwenning, Johanna Rosenberger, Karl Rosenberger, Kelly Rosenberger, Leo Nau, Louise Beshone, Mary Jane Kuffner Hirt, Meredith Corey Disch Community Loaves, Meredith Corey-Disch, Michael Pollan, Murray Hill, Murray Hill Jacksonville, Pitts Rosenberger, Pittsburgh streetcar accident, Pittsburgh trolley accident, Rosenberger House Jacksonville, Rosenberger House Murray Hill, Sue Coppard, The Alibi Murray Hill, Tim Armstrong, Tim Gilmore, Tim Gilmore Jax Psycho Geo, woofing, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, WWOOF, WWOOFing

New Story: Casa Marina Hotel at Jacksonville Beach

Posted on August 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

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The other beach hotels all burned. Whichever presidents stayed here, and whether or not Jean Harlow and Al Capone did, the history of the Casa Marina at Jacksonville Beach includes an organ grinder and monkey, a vanished penthouse octagon bedroom, Victorian lace blouses and kolinsky furs. Here, Rachel and Dan shared wedding vows with their six year old son, a thousand ambitious business plans expanded and deflated, and the old building’s savior had his ashes spread into the ocean by surfboard.

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Tagged Allan Brown, Atlantic Beach Hotel, Atlantic Hotel, Barbara Mattison, Beaches Foundation, Bill Foley, Burdside Hotel, Butch Shadwell, Candace L. Preston, Casa Marina, Casa Marina Hotel, Casa Marina Hotel Jacksonville Beach, Casa Marina Hotel Jax Beach, Casa Marina Jacksonville Beach, Casa Marina Jax Beach, Casa Marina Motel Apartments, Casablanca Bar Casa Marina, Continental Hotel Atlantic Beach, coquina gates, Cynthia Parks, David Krest, David Krest Neptune Beach, Florida Land Boom, George Brandt, Greg Mattison, Gypsy Players by the Sea, Harlow's Tea Room, Hionides Jacksonville Beach, Hurricane Dora, Hurricane Dora Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville Beach boardwalk, Jacksonville Beach Ferris Wheel, Jacksonville Beach Pier, Jacksonville Beach Pier Dance Pavilion, Jacobethan Revival, Jimmy Trotter, John Jorgensen, Karen Brune, Kevin Hogencamp, Marcy Appelbaum, Mary Lou Brown, Maxine Freeman, Mayflower Hotel Jacksonville, Mediterranean Revival, Miami Beach Casino Jazz Orchestra, Murray Hall, Norma Brizzi Players by the Sea, Ocean Life Natural Foods Jacksonville Beach, Osbert Lancaster, Otto Flemming, Pablo Beach, Rachel Kitzman, Renae Mattison, Sandpiper Hotel, Sean Mattison, Sean Mattison surfing, Tea Room Casa Marina, Tim Gilmore, Tim Gilmore Jaxpsychogeo, Wini Rider, Winter City in Summer Land

Wesley Plott’s Downtown Bottlescape

Posted on August 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

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He knew all the best places to dig downtown, in Springfield and in Riverside for hundred year old bottles. He found Indian pottery, toys, newspapers, parts of skulls and Civil War munitions. His 40 year old 50 page book, Antique Bottles Found in Northeast Florida, contains chapters called “Locating Dumps,” “Known Bottle Dumps” and “Hidden Treasures Just for You!” He also claims to have unearthed an ancient body, then reburied it, downtown on Adams Street. Click below for the story.

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Tagged A Century of Medicine in Jacksonville and Duval County, A.S. Baldwin, Antique Bottle Club of Jacksonville, bottle collecting Northeast Florida, Dr. A.S. Baldwin, Duval County Board of Health, Florida history, Henry John Klutho Park, Independent Life Building, Jacksonville Free Public Library, Jacksonville history, jaxpsychogeo, McCoys Creek, Old St. Luke's Hospital, Purple Petunia, Springfield Jacksonville, Tim Gilmore, Timucua, Timucuan Indians, Tudor Revival, Webster Merritt, Wesley B. Plott, Windsor Hotel

St. Johns River Monster: 170 Years of Sightings

Posted on July 30, 2020 | 1 comment

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Supposed sightings of the St. Johns River Monster go back 170 years. It’s been called “Johnnie,” for the river, and the inexplicable “Borinkus.” Bounties have been offered, but the beast has never been shot, by gun or by camera. Sea monster legends do, however, connect to real world monstrosities, headlines of lynchings and the Klan. And no explanations satisfy those who say they’ve seen it.

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Tagged " Captain Adams Jacksonville, "Lucy and Nancy, Astor Chamber of Commerce, Astor Florida Chamber of Commerce, Barney Dillard, Bigfoot, Bobby Holt, Borinkus, Brenda Langley, Columbus mermaids, cryptozoology, D.B. Newbold, Dorothy Abram, Earl Boylston, Eddie St. John, Fuller Warren Bridge, Gilbert King, Godwin's Snake Village, Groveland Boys, Groveland Four, H.L. Walters, Harold J. Humm, Harry T. Moore, Homer J. Wright, J.W. Hunter, Jesse Hunter, John Baumgartner, Johnnie, Kathy Kirkland, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Larry Atkinson, LaSalle Street, LaSalle Street Bulkhead, LaSalle Street San Marco, Loch Ness Monster, manatee, NAACP Florida, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Florida, Norma Padgett, Owen Godwin, Sammy Shepherd, San Marco Jacksonville, sea cows, Skunk Ape, St. Johns River Monster, Stockton Park Jacksonville, Thurgood Marshall, Tim Gilmore Florida, Verne Vandivier, Wallace McLean, Walter Irvin, Willis McCall

Republication National Convention in Jacksonville

Posted on July 24, 2020 | Leave a comment

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Here’s the weird saga of the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, a city plagued with perennial low self esteem and strange sitcom jokes, the story of how a mayor and a governor attempted to trade a city for scrap, how a city resisted an invasion and won, how a city started to see itself and realized it was, already, a real town. Didn’t it? It’s time it did.

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Tagged 30 Rock Florida, Ax Handle Saturday, Ax Handle Saturday DeSantis, Ax Handle Saturday Jacksonville, Ax Handle Saturday Lenny Curry, Ax Handle Saturday RNC, Ax Handle Saturday Trump, Bob Gray Trump Jacksonville, Charlotte RNC Jacksonville, coronavirus RNC Jacksonville, coronavirus Trump Jacksonville, Covid Trump Jacksonville, Covid-19 RNC Jacksonville, Florida Man Jacksonville, Florida Man Southern Gothic, Garrett Dennis, James Weldon Johnson, James Weldon Johnson Jacksonville, Jenna Maroney Florida, Lenny Curry Jacksonville, Lenny Curry Trump Jacksonville, North Carolina RNC Jacksonville, Republican National Convention Jacksonville, RNC Jacksonville, RNC Jacksonville Tim Gilmore, Ron DeSantis Jacksonville, Ron DeSantis Trump Jacksonville, Roy Cooper Jacksonville, Southern Gothic Jacksonville, Tina Fey Florida, Trinity Baptist Jacksonville Trump, Trump Jacksonville

The Purple Petunia Goes Postmodern

Posted on July 18, 2020 | Leave a comment

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Eight years ago, I first wrote about The Purple Petunia, an antique store and flower shop in an old “Tudor style” service station. Now Andrew Suslak and Brandon Merkle are turning “the Petunia” into Post Modern Brewing, reviving a storied Riverside address. So here’s a revised and fuller story, telling of Wesley B. Plott, digger of old bottles from lost dumps, mercurial antique dealer, breaker of old lamps, shooter of intruders and accidental environmental activist, who lived his last days alone in a small back room of “the Petunia.” Here’s to the Petunia going postmodern!

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Tagged Algonquin Antiques, Andrew Suslak, Anne Plott, Barter House, Bill Delaney, Bob Phelps, bottle collecting, bottle collecting Florida, Brandon Merkle, Cedar Point, Clapboard Creek, Diazinon, Don Gay, Ed Brooks, Ginger Rowland, I.G. Farben, jaxpsychogeo, Joseph Richardson, Kenco Chemical, Lavelle Goff, Livebeck Island, New Berlin, Post Modern Brewing, Purple Petunia, Riverside Avondale, Seedsmith, Shawna Rowland, Spectracide, Spectracide explosion, Stockbroker Tudor, Sulfotepp, The Norm gay bar, Tim Gilmore, Tudor Revival, Wesley B. Plott, Xavier Richardson

New Story: Three Oaks Plaza, FBI Headquarters, Offshore Power Systems

Posted on July 11, 2020 | Leave a comment

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Three Oaks Plaza is no plaza and these three squat buildings are no oaks. This is the site of Offshore Power Systems, supposed builders of floating nuclear power plants in the ocean, a company to which Jax offered, with national embarrassment, to sell its soul in the 1970s. This is the site of the former Jax FBI hq for 35 years, now the home of squatters, the setting of strange fires in abandoned structures.

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Tagged 1973 Oil Crisis, Arab-Israeli War, Arlington, Arlington Expressway, Barchlett family, Blount Island, Bnei Zipora, Bob Selton, Bold New City of the South, Chernobyl, Colliers International Northeast Florida, Comptroller General, Concorde Career Institute, Dames Point Bridge, David Wallace, Duval County Consolidation, FBI Building Jacksonville, FJC Downtown Campus, Florida Junior College, Florida Rock Industries, Fred Schultz, Goat Island, Goat Island Hermit, Goat Island Hermit Tim Gilmore, Gulf Life Insurance Company, Hans Tanzler, Hartford of the South, Hartley Lord, J. Henry Blount, Jack McWethy, Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Consolidation, Jacksonville Daily Record, Jacksonville Port Authority, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, James Crooks, jax psycho geo, Jim Crooks, Karen Brune Mathis, Kozman Realty, Lewis Winnard, McMillion$, Nate Monroe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oakwood Villa, Offshore Power Systems, Omega Oaks, OPS, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, Paxson Electric Company, Rollians Christopher, Roy Bertke, Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, Sin City, Sin City Arlington, Three Mile Island, Three Oaks Plaza, Tim Gilmore, U.S. News and World Report, Wanda Glennon Canaday, Westinghouse-Tenneco

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The Story of Lord Ranch, Old Kings Road

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Vote, 2020, against the Terrorist Tactics of 1920

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The Oldest House at Atlantic Beach: The Christopher / Bull / Hionides House

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New Story: Community Loaves / Rosenberger House

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New Story: Casa Marina Hotel at Jacksonville Beach

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Wesley Plott’s Downtown Bottlescape

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St. Johns River Monster: 170 Years of Sightings

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Republication National Convention in Jacksonville

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The Purple Petunia Goes Postmodern

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New Story: Three Oaks Plaza, FBI Headquarters, Offshore Power Systems

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Click below to order your copy of Channeling Anna Fletcher

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Click below to order your copy of The Book of Isaiah

Click below to order your copy of Devil in the Baptist Church: Bob Gray’s Unholy Trinity

Click below to order your copy of Central Georgia Schizophrenia

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Click below to order your copy of In Search of Eartha White

Click below to order your copy of The Ocean Highway at Night

Click below to order your copy of Stalking Ottis Toole

Click below to order your copy of Ghost Compost