Tag Archives: manatee

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

Walking the Vanished Old Panama Road

Posted on April 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

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

The Old Panama Road disappeared beneath the Northside of the city 120 years ago. This story tracks it. It heads north from the murder of Marie Gato, past Club Steppin’ Out, through the diary of a black Civil War soldier reading Lord Byron, a Spanish American War camp teeming with Typhoid Fever and the burning of a sawmill the size of a small town.

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Tagged Alexander St. Clair-Abrams, Andrew Robinson Elementary School, Austin Mann, Austin S. Mann, Bloxham Avenue, Buffalo Avenue, Buffalo Food Store, Camp Bloxham, Charles F. Sibbald, Childe Harold, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Club Steppin' Out, Confederacy, Confederate States of America, Covid-19, Cyrus Brown, E.L. Smith Candy, Eddie Pitzer, Edward Pitzer, El Modelo, Everett Hotel, Evergreen Cemetery, Fairfield, First Coast Automotive, G.W. Wetmore, Gabriel Hidalgo Gato, George W. Clark, Henry John Klutho, Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage, James Berry, jax psycho geo, Jim Crow, Joel McEachin, John Bigger, José Alejandro Huau, Jose Marti, Lord Byron, Lycurgis Bigger, manatee, Marie Louise Gato, North Springfield, Old Panama Road, Panama Florida, Panama Mills, Panama Park, Panama Park School, Panama Park Track, Pitzer and Bigger, Relaxx Inn, Sanborn Fire Insurance, Sebald Lane, Silver Street, Spanish moss, Springfield, Tim Gilmore, Trout River, Typhoid Fever, United States Colored Troops, USCT, We’re for Jesus House of Prayer, William Dunnington Bloxham