Tag Archives: Arlington Expressway

Recalling the Childhood Terrors of Mr. Peanut

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Something wasn’t right about him, the 54-foot-tall man-legume who looked down at children in their parents’ cars. Some kids just remember the joys of popping roasted peanuts into their fizzing Cokes at the Planter’s Peanut Store. The giant Mr. Peanut on Arlington Expressway didn’t last long, but oh how he left his mark!

The Story of Storyland U.S.A.

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More than a decade before Disney came to Florida, Storyland U.S.A. occupied 10 acres along the Arlington Expressway, featuring static exhibits of nursery rhymes along dirt trails. Storyland didn’t last long, but it influenced Marc Suttle’s earliest remembered dreams and Cheryl Joseph can still see the witch from Hansel and Gretel. 

Senator John Mathews and the Bridge to Nowhere

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When the Mathews Bridge was new, it was “the Bridge to Nowhere,” but it heralded the growth of Arlington east of the river and Downtown Jax. The city painted it “garnet” to celebrate its United States Football League team in 1984. It was named for the Florida senator best known for his proposed legislation to limit black voting rights. Opposing those bills got Harry T. Moore and his wife killed on their 25th anniversary.

Inside the Enigmatic Arlington Federal Savings and Loan

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Here’s a look inside the abandoned Arlington Federal. Its architect remained elusive. The lobby stands open to the elements. A butterfly sub-ceiling hangs over the tellers’ desks. Steel vaults stand open. In its earliest years, even its administrators robbed it. Only now does it emerge that Miami’s Edwin T. Reeder was the architect. Now the bulldozers are ready.

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

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Arlington and Lillian Roads: No ID Required

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Respectfully, Devonte Shipman asks, “What was it that we did wrong, Officer?” This kind of thing has happened to him before. This time, he’s recording it.

Officer J.S. Bolen says, “You crossed the crosswalk! Against the red hand!” He threatens to put him in jail, calls for backup, and tells Vonte that Florida requires its residents to carry an ID at all times.

As though Bolen understands time in neighborhoods deemed not worth time. As though Bolen understands his position as Vonte Shipman’s public servant.