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 Index of Riverside & Avondale Sites References Dell received his 800-acre grant in 1801. It included all of the land along the river between McCoys Creek and a point midway between Barrs and King Streets. Known as "Dell's Bluff," this property changed hands several times until 1847, when it was purchased by James Winter, who operated an extensive plantation there. In 1868 Edward M. Cheney, editor of the Jacksonville newspaper, The Florida Union, purchased the southern 500 acres of Dell's Bluff for $10,000 in gold. He bought the land as an agent for John Murray Forbes, a Boston millionaire, who had the land platted and named it "Riverside." 2 Southwest of Dell's Bluff was a 150-acre tract granted in 1815 to Robert Hutcheson, who established a successful plantation there. Three years later he obtained another 350 acres, extending his holdings to the south. This entire tract of land came into the ownership of William McKay in 1836, who named it "Magnolia Plantation." Producing sea island cotton, the plantation worked fifty slaves. 3 When Elias Jaudon bought Magnolia Plantation in 1850, it included 550 acres extending from what is now Powell Place all the way to Fishweir Creek. Expanding the plantation to over one thousand acres, Jaudon produced cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, cattle, and sheep. After his death in 1871, Magnolia Plantation was sold and divided into several truck farms. 4 In fact, all of today's Riverside and Avondale remained rural in character until 1887 when the first surge of residential development occurred. After Jacksonville's city limits were extended to include Riverside (out to King Street), a street railway was built connecting the suburb with Downtown. In 1893 the name of the main road was changed from Commercial Street to Riverside Avenue. 5 Two years later, Riverside was an established upper middle-class neighborhood of 2,500 residents. 6 Following the Great Fire of 1901, many prominent citizens built large mansions along Riverside Avenue. This gallery of elegant homes was nicknamed "The Row" and became the residential showplace of the city. Away from the river more modest bungalows and two-story houses spread southwest to King Street and beyond, following the extension of the streetcar line. 7 During the peak years of Riverside's development from 1901 to 1929, a profusion of residential building styles gained popularity across the nation. With the influx of building tradesmen who came to the city after the Great Fire, Riverside became a laboratory for aspiring architects and competing residential fashions. Today the neighborhood has the largest variety of architectural styles in Florida. 8 While Riverside prospered, the western part of the old Magnolia Plantation remained thickly wooded with a few scattered farms. As early as 1884 a portion of the Jaudon estate was purchased for development as a residential community by a group of northerners, led by James Randall Challen, William Harksheimer, and John Talbott. Named "Edgewood," the development extended from present-day Park Street to Roosevelt Boulevard, along Challen, Edgewood, and Talbot Avenues. The land was platted for homesites, but only a few residences, mostly farmhouses, were constructed there. 9 During World War I, hunters were still shooting wild game in this vicinity. 10 By the summer of 1920, several wealthy investors led by Telfair Stockton had assembled a large tract of land including all of Edgewood and the adjoining riverfront property, at a cost of over $500,000. They developed an exclusive subdivision that would overshadow all of the smaller developments around it. Stockton chose the name "Avondale" after a subdivision near James R. Challen's former home in Cincinnati. 11 Avondale was advertised as "Riverside's Residential Ideal," 12 where only the "correct" and "well to do" people would live. Boasting that "Avondale is desirable because the right kind of people have recognized its worth and because the wrong kind of people can find property more to their liking elsewhere," the Avondale Company sold 402 of the total 720 lots and completed nearly two hundred homes in its first two years. 13 As the most elaborately planned development in Jacksonville at that time, Avondale lived up to its publicity. Sidewalks, sewerage, city water, gas, electricity, and telephone lines were installed before lots were offered for sale. Gently curving roadways and sixteen parks were laid out by William Pitkin, a well known landscape architect from Ohio. Restrictive covenants regulated types of construction in order to maintain the exclusive nature of the residential development. Most of the houses were two stories tall. Adopting the architectural style that would saturate Florida during the booming years of the 1920's, a large proportion of the early Avondale residences were built in the Mediterranean Revival style. The Better Homes Company, a subsidiary of the Avondale Company, did much of the actual construction, insuring a uniformity of building quality. 14 Initially considered part of Riverside, Avondale quickly developed its own identity. The original Avondale subdivision was long and narrow, only 4 blocks wide (from Seminole Road to just beyond Talbot) and one mile long (from the river to Roosevelt Boulevard). 15 Although contiguous developments such as Windsor Place, Ingleside Heights, St. Johns Heights, Shadowlawn, and Arden sprang up, the mystique of Avondale prevailed: the entire area from McDuff Avenue to Fishweir Creek is today generally known as "Avondale." By the time the Florida building boom fizzled in 1928, virtually all of this area had been developed. Although primarily residential in character, Riverside/Avondale has three small-scale retail districts, which generally blend harmoniously with the neighborhood. Commercial zoning on the northern portion of Riverside Avenue, along with the construction of the Fuller Warren Bridge and Interstate 95, have brought an end to the elegant homes along "The Row," replacing them with modern office buildings. Two sprawling hospital complexes further down Riverside Avenue have also intruded into the ambience and residential quality of the neighborhood. Today Riverside and Avondale still form one of Florida's unique neighborhoods. The riverfront setting, the ample parks, and the tree-canopied streets blend with the varied architecture to produce a pleasing tapestry. In recognition of these qualities, the Riverside section was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 as Jacksonville's first Historic District. 1 Abstract of Riverside p.3; Duplicate Abstract of Avondale pp.19-24. 2 Abstract of Riverside pp.3-12; Davis p.42; Hallam, Riverside Remembered pp.5-6. 3 Davis pp.44, 48; Land grant to Robert Hutcheson, Dec. 1814, File #838; Duplicate Abstract of Avondale pp.19-24; Werndli, Riverside p.8/3. 4 Duplicate Abstract of Avondale pp.14, 29-34; Gold p.165; Davis p.48; Werndli, Riverside pp.8/3-4. 5 Charter and Ordinances of the City of Jacksonville, Dec. 27, 1893. 6 Werndli, Riverside pp.8/5-7; Koch Map 1893; Brown pp.139-141. 7 Hallam, Riverside pp.84-85; Sanborn Map 1903; Werndli, Riverside. 8 Interview with architectural historian Michael Scardaville, RAP Newsletter, Oct. 1980. 9 Duplicate Abstract of Avondale pp.12, 13, 18, 51-53, 81-83, 93; Werndli, Avondale. 10 Interview with long-time Riverside resident, Pembroke Huckins, 8-25-72. 11 Map of "Avondale" in Hamilton County, Ohio, 1869; Webb,W. p.135. 12 FTU 1-6-21. 13 Avondale brochure pp.8, 17; Sales Map of Avondale, Oct. 1, 1923. 14 Avondale brochure pp.4, 15; Interview with Pembroke Huckins, 8-25-74. 15 Duplicate Abstract of Avondale p.11. For key to references, see Bibliography. |
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