Tag Archives: Gator Bowl

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

New Story: Wandering the Ruins of the Thunderbird Motor Hotel

Posted on July 4, 2020 | Leave a comment

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

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: Sloan / McQueen House

Posted on August 19, 2019 | Leave a comment

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William has lived his whole life here on Spearing Street on the Eastside. Mable lived here almost half a century. Then tragedy struck. The letters on the pantry door spell, “Mable’s kitchen.” The Reverend McQueen took in boarders, but when a choir member couldn’t make rent, the pastor still paid the community’s mortgage.

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Tagged Aiden Michael McClendon, Alan Weisman, Albert Street, Andrew McQueen, C.B. Sloan, Charles Sloan, East Jacksonville, Eastside Jacksonville, Fairfield Jacksonville, Fairfield Stadium, First Baptist Church of Oakland, Florida Avenue, Florida Gothic, Florida Ostrich Farm, Gator Bowl, Henry Hayes, Jacksonville Motor Car Company, jaxpsychogeo, John Henry Rosemond, John Paige, John Rosemond, Kquame Richardson, Lenny Curry, Lillian Sloan, Mable Paige, Mable Paige Lenny Curry, Mayor Lenny Curry, Naked City, Oakland Jacksonville, Odessa, Pippin, Reverend Andrew McQueen, Sloan McQueen House, Southern Gothic Jacksonville, Southern Gothic Tim Gilmore, Spearing Street, The World Without Us, Tim Gilmore