Tag Archives: Bethel Baptist Church

New Story: Wandering the Ruins of the Thunderbird Motor Hotel

Posted on July 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

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The Thunderbird Motor Hotel lies in ruins on 19 acres. We wander through it. It was “one of the brightest jewels in the Florida Crown,” created to “give Jacksonville a Las Vegas, New York, big-city type of night club atmosphere.” It featured multiple lounges like The Zodiac Room and The Wonderfall, dinner theatre and convention space. The stars came. For a while. Few realized its full history of financial troubles. Now a hawk flies over the abandoned swimming pool. Click below for the story.

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Tagged Al Stein, Albert Stein, Ann Sothern, Arlington Jacksonville, Ben Stein, Bethel Baptist Church, Bethelite, Bold New City of the South, Bonnie Morrison, Burger King Jacksonville, Carmen Ann Roden, Danae Clift, David Stein, Fireman's Ball, Fisher & Malone, Florida Gothic, Frances Langford, Gator Bowl, Gerry Roden, Hans Tanzler, Howard Keel, Jackie Gleason Show, Jacksonville Coliseum, Jacksonville Florida, Jacksonville Gothic, Jacksonville University, Jason Wood, jax psycho geo, Jay Leno, Jill Starr, Joann Starr, John C. Christian, Jud Ammean Orchestra, KBJ Architects, Kettle Pub, King’s Inn Lounge, Man of La Mancha, Martin Denny, Mary Lynn Brown, Mayor Hans Tanzler said, Michael Ammiano, Peter Cummings, Philip Browning, Red Carpet Inns, Regency Square, Regency Square Mall, Ricky Takacs, Rolling Stones Jacksonville, Sammy Spear Orchestra, South Pacific Orientalism, Terrace Room, The Diamonds, Thunder Resort Hotel, Thunderbird Motor Hotel, Thunderreal, Tiki Bar, Tim Gilmore, Tim Gilmore writer, Tiny Tim, white flight, William Groff, William K. Jackson, Wonderfall, Wonderfall Bar, Wonderfall Lounge, Yvonne Moray, Zero Mostel, Zodiac Room

New Story: First Baptist Church

Posted on October 10, 2019 | Leave a comment

Click below for this week’s story, or navigate the city through the direction buttons at the top of the page:

First Baptist Church has perhaps received more love and more hate than any other entity in Jacksonville. It dates to a ca.-Civil War split with black church members who retained the original name, Bethel Baptist. In 1923, Pastor W.A. Hobson welcomed 200 Klansmen in full regalia into his farewell sermon. In the 1980s, Pastors Homer Lindsay and Jerry Vines ignited a showdown with more “liberal” members of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2019, what once seemed unthinkable occurs: the church plans to sell 90 percent of its downtown campus.

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Tagged A.C. Shuler, Bethel Baptist Church, Billy Graham, Bob Gray, Calvary Baptist Church, Celebration Church, Christian Alamo, Donald Trump, Eleven22, FBC Watchdog, First Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Watchdog, Fuller Warren, Heath Lambert, Henry John Klutho, Hobson Auditorium, Homer Dome, Homer Lindsay, Homer Lindsay Jr., Human Rights Ordinance, James Fifield, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Vines, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Lester Roloff, Liberty University, Mac Brunson, Martin Luther King, Moral Majority, Prosperity Gospel, Rebekah Home for Girls, Robert Calhoun Gray, Robert Morris, Southern Baptist Convention, Springfield Jacksonville, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, W.A. Hobson

Hansontown Lies Beneath FSCJ’s Downtown Campus

Posted on October 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

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Hansontown lies beneath Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Downtown Campus, figuratively and, in part, literally.

When Florida Junior College consolidated its downtown locations into the new Downtown Campus in the late 1970s, it eliminated the last of Hansontown, a century-old neighborhood built for freed slaves and former U.S. Colored Troops.

Some FSCJ leaders now espouse views on urbanism much like those the college abandoned by building Downtown Campus.

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Tagged Bethel Baptist Church, Camilla Thompson, Central Grammar and High School, Clara White, Clara White Mission, Cynthia Bioteau, Daniel Dustin Hanson, Douglas Anderson, Downtown Campus, Durkeeville, Eartha White, Ed Napier, FCCJ, FJC, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Florida Junior College, Florida StarSt. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church, Florida State College at Jacksonville, FSCJ, FSCJ Archive, Hansontown, Henry John Klutho, Jennifer Grey, Joseph Augustus Baldwin, LaVilla, Orange Street, Springfield, Sugar Hill, Sugar Underwood, U.S. Colored Troops