THE JAXSON | Merrill-Stevens: Legacy of the Southside Shipyard

The Merrill-Stevens Co., forerunner to Downtown’s Jacksonville Shipyards, had a Southside shipyard location at the current site of Bishop Kenny High School. The Assumption Catholic School and Assumption Catholic Church, near Bishop Kenny, were also part of the Merrill-Stevens Southside shipyard, a once-bustling shipbuilding operation that was established during World War I.

*Jacob Brock and shipyards workers. Brock established the shipyard that eventually became Merrill-Stevens and the Jacksonville Shipyards during the 1850s. | Florida Memory*

Going back farther in history, Fort San Nicholas was a Spanish military post established in 1784 on the present site of Bishop Kenny’s athletic fields. The Spanish military post was used for patrolling that area along the St. Johns River. It was temporarily destroyed in 1796 in a raid by John H. McIntosh of Georgia. In its final years of operation, Fort San Nicholas operated primarily to prevent smuggling. Francis S. Hudnall later acquired the land and established Hudnall Farm.

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Merrill-Stevens traces its beginning to the 1850s with a shipyard established by Jacob Brock. In 1877, Alonzo Stevens acquired Brock’s shipbuilding business after his death. In 1885, James Eugene and Alexander Merrill joined Stevens to form Merrill-Stevens Engineering Co. The Merrill-Stevens shipbuilding business and shipyard was located on East Bay Street near the Maxwell House Coffee plant. The business name was changed to Merrill-Stevens Co. in 1906 and the Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corp. during World War I. Eventually renamed Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock & Repair Co., the company sold the Downtown shipyard and relocated to Miami in the 1950s. Now named RMK Merrill-Stevens, the company operates two shipyards in Miami. In 1963, its original Jacksonville shipyard became Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc. or JSI. JSI permanently closed in 1992, laying off 200 workers. Today only its wharfs remain and serve as a home to the USS Orleck Naval Museum.

*The Jacksonville Shipyards. | Florida Memory*

Across the St. Johns River was Merrill-Steven’s Southside shipbuilding yard, where its World War I ships were built.

The Shipping Act of 1916 created the U.S. Shipping Board to promote a U.S. merchant marine and regulate American commercial shipping. Congress enacted the Shipping Act to reform the American maritime industry and to better respond to shipping shortages due to World War I. The Shipping Board enacted its Emergency Fleet Corp. on April 16, 1917, to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant ships for the war. The Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corp. was one of many American shipbuilding companies to benefit.

On December 19, 1917, the Emergency Fleet Corp. entered into a financial agreement with the Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corp. to build several ships at its second shipyard at the site of the present-day Assumption Catholic School, Assumption Catholic Church and Bishop Kenny High School. The Merrill-Stevens Southside shipyard was 80 acres with 10 buildings, including its administration building, generator building, pattern building and offices.

The Merrill-Stevens Southside shipyard opened on May 17, 1918, ready to build ships for the American effort in World War I. Unfortunately, there was a housing shortage for the workers at the new Merrill-Stevens shipyard. That housing shortage led to the Shipping Board’s construction of a $750,000 housing project called Fletcher Park in present-day San Marco. By 1918 Merrill-Stevens employed 3,839 people, making it the largest employer in Jacksonville at the time.

*Assumption Catholic School was formerly the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. | University of North Florida*

The Merrill-Stevens Administration Building at the Southside shipyard was designed by Jacksonville architect Henry J. Klutho. Klutho designed many new buildings in the Prairie School architecture style during Jacksonville’s reconstruction following the Great Fire of 1901. Klutho’s final Prairie-style building was the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. It is the only remnant of the World War I shipyard that still stands today as the Assumption Catholic School.

The Merrill-Stevens Southside shipyard built between 10 and 20 ships during World War I. (Some sources say more than 20, but that figure may include ships built immediately after the war.) The ships were initially small freighters of composite material but were later made of steel. The ships built during World War I included the Red Cloud, Apalachee, Botsford, and Kanabec. Immediately after the war, several more ships were built, including the Wekika, Ashbee, Jacksonville, Chickamauga, and Pinellas.

Hull 100 (Apalachee) was delivered in September 1918. Apalachee was a composite ship, which was a wooden vessel with structural steel incorporated to stiffen the hull, and was a 5750-ton cargo ship. | Florida Memory

The Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression brought renewed interest in the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. The WPA was formed in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal economic program and employed millions of Americans to work on projects such as bridges, parks, and schools. One such program for unemployed women was the sewing room projects, giving them the opportunity to earn between $35 and $50 a month by sewing articles of clothing for men, women and children. Between 1939 and 1941, a one of the largest WPA sewing rooms in Florida used the former Merrill-Stevens Administration Building.

Assumption Catholic Church was established in 1923 along with a school and rectory on Gary Street in present-day San Marco. The school opened with 110 students. In 1948 Assumption Catholic Church, led by Father James Cloonan, acquired land from the former Merrill-Stevens Southside shipyard, including the administration building. Klutho’s original brick façade was stuccoed over and some of his original ornamentation was lost. The original canopy over the front entrance was left intact. The new Assumption Catholic School opened in September 1949 with 317 students. The elementary school operated under the leadership of the Sisters of St. Dominic from Adrian, Michigan. In 1954 Assumption Catholic Church built its present-day church adjacent to Assumption Catholic School.

Central Catholic High School was established in 1952 on the 55-acre property behind Assumption Catholic School and in 1953 was later rededicated as Bishop Kenny High School. In 1983 the shipyard’s dry dock basins were filled in to create the school’s athletic fields.

Today, the land that Bishop Kenny occupies is unrecognizable as a World War I shipyard.