West of Downtown lies the historic district of LaVilla. It was the first suburb of Jacksonville, Florida area and was a separate city until 1887, when it was annexed along with several others. It covered the area north of McCoy’s Creek and the railroad lines, and west of Clay Street.
For a long time, the area of LaVilla north of Adams Street served as Jacksonville’s epicenter for the city’s African-American community. The majority of the area’s residents were people of African descent, and several of the area’s establishments—including the Ritz Theatre and the clubs along Ashley Street—featured the work of black musicians and performers. Union Station (now the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center) in the neighborhood’s southern section was a major railroad hub where multiple rail lines converged. This area was also, perhaps not coincidentally, Jacksonville’s primary red light district at one point.
Incorporated in the 1860s, LaVilla has always been a town of significant African-American population. During the American Civil War, this area served as a base for Union forces. Jacksonville expanded its city limits in 1887, and with that came the annexation of this area and five others. While downtown was devastated by the Great Fire of 1901, the LaVilla neighborhood escaped relatively unscathed.
Over the next few decades, LaVilla’s music and entertainment scene flourished, and many famous musicians made their way to the neighborhood to perform at the clubs on and off of Ashley Street that catered to black patrons. But the area saw a dramatic decline in the 1960s from which it has never fully recovered. After the end of segregation, many residents left the area to find better opportunities elsewhere, as the railroad industry declined and urban decay set in. The urban revitalization effort that started in the 1980s is still going strong.
After a brief decade of independence, in 1887 the city of Jacksonville annexed and incorporated LaVilla. There were roughly 3,000 people living in LaVilla at the time of annexation. Most of the neighborhood’s Black residents would be stripped of their voting rights as a result of the annexation and new state laws passed around the turn of the century.
The neighborhood expanded due to the fact that it served as a railroad junction. In 1883, LaVilla established a train station, which would later be expanded in the early twentieth century.
In addition, the city’s new Union Terminal welcomed passengers in 1919. For its time, it was the largest of its kind in the South.
During the time of segregation in Jacksonville, this area became a center for the city’s Black community. Even more so after the Ritz Theatre opened in 1929, the city’s nightlife scene flourished. While it was just one of many exciting nightlife spots in the area, the new theater quickly became the area’s most important performance venue, attracting some of the most in-demand Black performers in the country.
Julington Creek
Jacksonville Concrete and Construction