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The Coastal
  • Development
    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: South Moon Under coming to SJTC

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop coming to Mandarin

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Scramblers coming to Deerwood, Lakewood

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Gucci to SJTC; Taverna debuting new concept

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Dolly Llama to PVB; Lowe’s, Wawa to CR-210

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Vestcor planning Lofts at San Marco East

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Rockler Woodworking coming to SJTC

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Sportsman’s Warehouse coming to River City Marketplace

    Building Up Jax - Jacksonville Construction and Development Updates Each Saturday

    Building Up Jax: Tesla expanding its local presence

  • History
    • All
    • Jax Evolved
    Florida Times-Union building

    Story of a Building: The Florida Times-Union Building

    Edgewood Bakery

    Remembering Edgewood Bakery: Once a Murray Hill Staple, Now an Empty Building

    jacksonville university

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    history of Ed wAters College

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    Worman's bAKERY AND DELI

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    Before Normandy Mall, There Was the Loew’s Normandy Drive-In Theatre

    Green Turtle Restaurant in Jacksonville, fl

    Remembering Joe Adeeb’s Green Turtle Restaurant

    San Marco Theater, San Marco, Jacksonville, FL

    Story of a Building: San Marco Theatre

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    Story of a Building: Sun-Ray Cinema Building

  • Jax Evolved
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    JAX EVOLVED: VyStar Reinvigorates the Former Life of the South Building

    JAX EVOLVED: San Marco Preservation Society Now Occupies South Jacksonville City Hall

    JAX EVOLVED: San Marco Preservation Society Now Occupies South Jacksonville City Hall

    Old St. Luke's Hospital jacksonville fl

    JAX EVOLVED: Old St. Luke’s Hospital Building Now Houses Jacksonville Historical Society

    Paul Davis Restoration, formerly Chevrolet Parts Depot, Springfield, Jacksonville, FL

    JAX EVOLVED: Paul Davis Restoration Gives Life to Old Chevrolet Parts Depot

    Old St. Andrew's Church building, Jacksonville, FL

    JAX EVOLVED: Old St. Andrew’s Church Building

    Novel Coworking / Groover-Stewart Drug Company Building, 25 N. Market Street, Jacksonville, FL - Image copyright 2020 Google

    JAX EVOLVED: Groover-Stewart Drug Company Building Now Houses Novel Coworking

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    JAX EVOLVED: From Brewster Hospital to North Florida Land Trust

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A Brief History of Springfield, Jacksonville’s Oldest Neighborhood

by The Coastal
April 24, 2019
in Featured
1st and Main building, Jacksonville, FL
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Springfield, Jacksonville’s oldest neighborhood, is currently in the midst of celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

The neighborhood, located north of downtown, was first established in 1869 and subsequently divided into residential lots by local developer John H. Norton. Springfield Development Company was formed to sell off plots of land; the company donated some of that land to the city at the turn of the 20th century to create Springfield Park.

When the Great Fire of 1901 wiped out most of downtown Jacksonville, many former downtown residents chose to move north to Springfield. This prompted a major development boom in the newly-forming neighborhood, bringing in a steady stream of residential and commercial projects.

Claude Nolan Cadillac set up its headquarters along a busy Main Street corridor in 1910. That same decade, the city chose Springfield Park as the site for its first zoo. Many of the neighborhood’s now-famous historic homes were built during this early-1900s boom – many being designed by Henry J. Klutho, who even built himself a house in Springfield.

By the late ‘20s, there were very few empty lots remaining in the red-hot Springfield.

Unfortunately, the neighborhood started to lose momentum soon thereafter. A redesign of Springfield Park led in part by Klutho helped ease the loss of the zoo to a site in North Jacksonville, but because the area was already thoroughly developed, it missed out on waves of development that hit downtown, the Eastside, and other nearby neighborhoods.

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Klutho Park in Springfield
Klutho Park in Springfield

When those waves ended, things really got bad for Springfield. As downtown Jax entered a decline to start the second half of the 20th century, Springfield followed suit. Residents bolted for newer, nicer suburbs, and businesses quickly followed them.

Newly-vacant houses were used as makeshift boarding houses and bordellos, attracting a less-than-ideal crowd to the neighborhood. Other buildings were left to rot away or used by homeless individuals for shelter.

The Springfield Preservation and Revitalization (SPAR) Council was founded in 1974 in an attempt to fight back against the neighborhood’s newfound blight and to preserve its historic integrity.

The founding of the SPAR Council and its subsequent work helped create a renewed interest in the history of Springfield. In 1984, part of Springfield Park was renamed to honor Klutho and his contributions – both to the park and to Springfield as a whole. Three years later, the entire neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It has since also been designated as a Jacksonville Historic District.

The neighborhood has enjoyed an ongoing comeback as of the past decade or so. The historic nature of the area and its houses appealed to many looking to buy houses – especially those looking to buy a house and renovate it. The once-busy Main Street commercial corridor has started to bounce back, adding a growing collection of businesses including breweries Main and Six and Hyperion, The Block Skate Supply, BARK pet boutique, and eateries Crispy’s and Uptown Kitchen.

Main and Six Brewing, Jacksonville, Florida Brewery
Main and Six Brewing in Springfield

Another brewery, Strings Sports Brewery, is set to open soon as well.

The tight-knit Springfield community has proven fiercely loyal to local businesses, and they showed up in droves to support the expansion of breweries into the neighborhood.

There’s still a lot of progress to be made in Springfield, with many vacant buildings remaining and homelessness and vagrancy still an issue. But as the neighborhood celebrates its sesquicentennial anniversary, it is rightfully full of hope for a long future ahead.

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The Coastal is a local magazine in Jacksonville, FL, founded in 2015 to bring you stories about the past, present, and future of the First Coast.

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Comments 3

  1. Crissie Cudd says:
    4 years ago

    Historic Springfield is the best neighborhood ever. The architecture will draw you here but you’ll stay because of the people. I’m surrounded by neighbors who know and support each other like no place I know. I’ll never leave.

    Reply
  2. Linda Joy Lewis says:
    4 years ago

    why not change it to Jaxonville?

    Reply
  3. Charles and Molly DeLettre says:
    4 years ago

    Some great yopics..articles with very interesting and promiding history of our roots here in Jacksonville. Charles M. DeLettre…” Center of Music Heritage at Jacksonville.*©2019.

    Reply

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