Tag Archives: Armory Jacksonville

The Ballad of Skimp Tillman

Posted on January 29, 2022 | 1 comment

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Skimp Tillman, one-eyed owner of Skimp’s Bar at Main and State Streets, occasionally shot and killed a customer, the last time because of a patron’s opinion of a Jax “gangland slaying.” Skimp served his liquor at the nexus of organized crime and a corrupt Jax sheriff’s office, then died in the electric chair. His son became a judge.

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Tagged Ambassador Hotel Jacksonville, Andrew Jackson High School, Armory Jacksonville, Auburn Todd, Beaver Street Baptist Church, Bernice Tillman, Christina Todd, Curtis Tillman, Curtis V. Tillman, D.M. Stevens, Dolly Young, Don M. Stevens, Edmund Wood, Edna Myers Tillman, Frank Costello, Frank Wood, Frank Wood Henry Tillman, George Hickman Palace Theater, H.V. Tillman, Henry Tillman, Henry V. "Skimp" Tillman, Henry V. Tillman, Irving Novitsky, James Melvin, jaxpsychogeo, Jimmie Murdock, Joe Adonis, John A. Rush Jacksonville, John Rush attorney, Judge Curtis V. Tillman, Justice Roy Harrison Chapman, Leslie Oldham, Ludie Tillman, M.B. Lee, Margaret Elsie Johnson, Milton Plumb, organized crime Jacksonville, Palace Theater Jacksonville, Peggy Tillman, Reverend George Hodges, Rex Sweat, Richard "Smitty" Melvin, Skimp Tillman, Skimp's Bar, Skimp's Bar Jacksonville, Smitty Melvin, Tallulah Avenue Jacksonville, The Arena Jacksonville, Tim Gilmore, Walter "Bull" Novitsky, Walter Novitsky

The Armory

Posted on January 22, 2021 | Leave a comment

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Truly this story has it all. The old Armory has stories enough for a hundred cities. There’s no way to tease it adequately. Urban exploration. Thousands of concerts, from opera to Janis Joplin and the Allman Brothers. Political debates and politicians’ funerals and boxing bouts. Stories of integration (James Weldon Johnson, Duke Ellington, Marian Anderson) defiant against Jim Crow. And a call for a future.

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Tagged Abe Livert’s Records, Allman Brothers Band, Along This Way, Angie Rodeillat Smith, Armory Jacksonville, Bryant Bowles, Charley Johns, Clarence Darrow, Colonel Edward Henry, Confederate Ball, Dave Franklin Duke Ellington, Dennis Riggs, Doyle Carlton, Duncan Fletcher, Duncan U. Fletcher, Duval County Armory, Edge City, First Baptist Church Jacksonville, Florida Civil Rights, Florida history, Florida National Guard, Florida Times-Union, Floripatra, Garage Boutique, Gator Bowl, Great Fire of 1901, Haydon Burns, Hixon’s Surfboard Revolution, Hoyt’s High Fidelity, J.C. Coppedge, Jacksonville Armory, Jacksonville Coliseum, Jacksonville history, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, James Weldon Johnson, Janis Joplin Jacksonville, jax psycho geo, John T. Alsop, Johnny Brewer, Johns Committee, KKK Jacksonville, Ku Klux Klan Jacksonville, Leo Kitchen Orchestra, Marian Anderson, Marian Anderson Jacksonville, Marvin Strickland, McCoys Creek, NAAWP, Nake Pear, National Association for the Advancement of White People, Paulus Music, Pickaninny Chorus, Prohibition Jacksonville, Riggs Promotion, Roosevelt Mall, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Song of Hiawatha, Senator Duncan Fletcher, Sidney Catts, Sidney Drachin, Tim Gilmore, Tim Gilmore Jax Psycho Geo, Tommy Torino, United Confederate Veterans, W.A. Hobbs, W.F. Bunch, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, Ye Mystic Revelers