Time for a visit to the Arts Market, a local farmer’s and crafts market, a walk along the waterfront and a visit to Jacksonville Landing, a retail and restaurant building built in 1987 and part of the downtown revitalization project. How about just some smoothie for breakfast here in the RV and then - ummm - we can find something to eat in the market. Sounds like a plan. And we’re off.
Entertainment, food, crafts, vegetables, people watching - a great time. And the cinnamon roll was plenty good too. Luckily, Gary shared with me.
The walk was equally nice, along the waterfront to Jacksonville Landing, the red roofed building in the background of this picture, behind the bridge.
Lots of others were walking along the trail also since it was such a nice sunny warm day. When we got to the market, we realized that it was the annual gumbo contest and there were hundreds of others crowded around the cooking pots. A Jimmy Buffet - like band was playing and we sat down to enjoy the crowd.
We then returned to the market area and walked into the Riverside/Avondale neighborhood where many old homes are located. We walked through a park where about 10 kids were playing hide and seek. I didn’t think kids played that anymore. When we came back through about 1 1/4 hours later, they were still playing. Here are two of them running in before they get tagged ‘it.’
Both of these areas were developed after the Great Fire of 1902 and have some of the finest architecture in the area.
One of the many architects who rushed to Jacksonville after the fire was Henry John Klutho who favored the Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style. His designs were typical of the period until he honeymooned near Buffalo, NY where two of Wright’s most famous commissions were. He became smitten with Wright’s Prairie style, absorbed its concepts and returned to Jacksonville with a new vision for the city.
He was plenty smart and soon had some of the best commissions in hand: the first 4-story building, the library, some churches and many residences for some of the wealthiest people in town. One of his most famous buildings was the St James Building in 1910, which is still standing (now called the City Hall). He envisioned a mixed-use building with retail, offices and a large department store as the middle. Pretty visionary - very much what is a ‘new’ plan for today’s projects. This building was highlighted in architecture magazines when it was finished. Clean lines and a very different schematic. Pretty cool building. Then he added glass elevators to give passengers a view of the building.
He built many buildings, many of which were torn down in the 1960’s during a period of urban renewal. Then, in the 1970’s people got wise and many of those buildings left were added to the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, he died poor at the age of 91, thinking he was unappreciated. But he left a beautiful legacy for Jacksonville.
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