Tag Archives: USFL

Senator John Mathews and the Bridge to Nowhere

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When the Mathews Bridge was new, it was “the Bridge to Nowhere,” but it heralded the growth of Arlington east of the river and Downtown Jax. The city painted it “garnet” to celebrate its United States Football League team in 1984. It was named for the Florida senator best known for his proposed legislation to limit black voting rights. Opposing those bills got Harry T. Moore and his wife killed on their 25th anniversary.

The Independent Life Building / Wells Fargo Center

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From lightning strikes to the locomotive buried in its foundation, from loyalty to President Nixon to overtures to the National Football League, from the architectural sketches of Wah Yo Eng to the immigrant family of Bulgarians, Haitians and Jamaicans, the Independent Life Building (now the Wells Fargo Center) has reflected Jacksonville back to itself since 1974.