Tag Archives: University of North Florida

St. Johns Flower Market’s Long Strange Trip

Posted on April 16, 2019 | Leave a comment

From Moonies to “flower pimps” to midcentury modern architecture, Click here for the strange and wondrous story of St. Johns Flower Market.

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Tagged Canary in the Coal Mine, Charlie Strickland, Ed's Roses and Ribs, Emily Gilmore, Fairfax, Fishweir Elementary School, Gina Martinelli, Goal Post Sandwich Shop, Goliath Flores, Jacksonville, jax psycho geo, Jim Pons, Jonathan Lux, Katrina Thiesen, Lenny Thiesen, Leonard Theisen, Lonesome Ride, Madison Square Garden, Marianne Thiesen, Mass Wedding, Moonies, Ortega, Riverside Avondale, Skinner's Dairy, St Johns Flower Market, Sun Myung Moon, Taylor Hardwick, Tim Gilmore, Unification Church, University of North Florida, Virginia King

The Barnett National Bank Building, Its Deep Roots and Tendrils through Time

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 comment

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It was “the Year of the Skyscraper.” The 10 story building next door began to tilt. Alfred duPont raised Florida from the Great Depression, merely from infusions of his personal wealth. When Barnett began the Bank of Jacksonville in 1877, he couldn’t have known it would grow into one of the largest banks in the South. After Herbert Hoover, Alfred’s wife, Jessie Ball duPont, changed direction. Her hair was graying, but her eyes still sparkled.

Barnett’s personification of its first Automatic Teller Machine frightened Southern working class families. Charles Rice said he’d never sell “Bion Barnett’s bank.” Then he checked into rehab. Then he sold. Then he drowned in his own swimming pool. Now UNF is making the Barnett “the front door to the startup community in Jacksonville.”

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Tagged Adrian Pillars, Aetna Insurance Building, Alfred duPont, Atlantic National Bank Building, Atlantic National Bank Building Annex, bank holiday, Bank of Jacksonville, Barnett Action, Barnett Bank, Barnett Center, Barnett Mansion, Barnett National Bank Building, Bion Barnett, Bisbee Building, Carling Hotel, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Charles Adrian Pillars, Charles E. Rice, Chicago School, Cutler Mailing System, downtown Jacksonville, drive-through bank teller, Edward Ball, Epping Forest, FDR, First Union, Florida Life Building, Florida National Bank, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Great Depression, Greenleaf and Crosby, Helmut Jahn, Henry John Klutho, Herbert Hoover, Hoovervilles, Hotel Roosevelt, Jack in the Box, Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, Jacksonville history, Jacksonville tunnels, Jacksonville's Big Three, Jacksonville's first skyscraper, jax psycho geo, jaxpsychogeo, Jessie Ball duPont, Jessie duPont, Judy Davis, Justin Maximo Uffinger, Karen Bowling, Lippincott's magazine, Louis Montayne Mowbray, Louis Sullivan, McCoys Creek, Memorial Park, Mowbray and Uffinger, Nationsbank, New Deal, Park Lane Apartments, Prudential Insurance Building, Robert E. Fisher, Sam the SuperTeller, Sarah Barnett, Savannah, Seth Thomas clock, skyscraper, Springfield, startup generator, Super Automatic Machine, tallest building in Jacksonville, The Carling, Tim Gilmore, UNF, University of North Florida, Wachovia, Wayne Wood, William Barnett, William Bion Barnett, William Boring, Winged Victory, Year of the Skyscraper

Death on the Railroad Tracks in Riverside

Posted on July 28, 2018 | Leave a comment

Click below for the full story. (Then surf jaxpsychogeo.com for hundreds more.)

His couchsurfing.com profile says he last logged in 12 months ago. He lived another month. The profile claims he still “Wants to Meet Up.” He’d helped a previously homeless student move into UNF dorms. He’d been arrested for skateboarding.

There are two eyewitness accounts of his being hit by the train on the tracks between Nighthawks and The Metro in Riverside.

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Tagged couchsurfing, crustpunk, Economic Theory of Suicide, homeless, jaxpsychogeo, Nighthawks, railroad tracks, Riverside, Riverside Avondale, skateboarding, the Metro, Tim Gilmore, University of North Florida

Florida Junior College, What the Beginning Looks Like, the Chance to Create a New World

Posted on March 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

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“It was not a frivolous time. We felt like we were doing something really important. You couldn’t help but feel that way.”

In idealistic camaraderie, they built a new curriculum and course outlines from scratch, socialized until late in the night, and discussed what books their students should read.

Erstwhile underground bomb shelters opened up. In one building “down toward Park Street,” FJC headquartered its Experimental College.

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Tagged A College Tells Its Story, Arnold Wood, Betsy Griffey, Charles Smires, Cumberland Campus, Edgar Napier, Erskine Key, Experimental College, FCCJ, FJC, Fred Kent, FSCJ, J. Bruce Wilson, Jennifer Grey, Jewell Haddock Blackburn, Kent Campus, Robert Gentry, SACS, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, UNF, University of North Florida, Vivian Payne