The corner of Ashley and Broad streets is the heart of LaVilla, where structures like the historic old Stanton school are being renovated.
Published on March 19, 2025 at 11:40 am
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Jacksonville’s oldest neighborhood — and one of the city’s oldest Gullah Geechee communities — is being nominated for a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Just west of Downtown, LaVilla was established in the mid 1800s and in its heyday was the center of African American culture, entertainment and commerce for more than a century.
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About a dozen buildings remain from the time before the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901 that destroyed more than 2,000 buildings.
Lavilla Preservation organizer Adrian Swanigan says that makes LaVilla’s surviving structures historically significant and the whole neighborhood worthy of a place on the National Register.
“These nominations help set this neighborhood up to be appealing for investment, and also protecting things in perpetuity, you know, the cultural fabric of this neighborhood,” Swanigan said as the effort was announced Tuesday. “There are a lot of perks that go along with us having this actual nomination.”
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LaVilla was a significant cultural center for blues, jazz and ragtime. It was considered the Southern headquarters of what became known as the Chitlin’ Circuit. It had the first public blues performance at LaVilla’s Colored Airdome in 1910, and it was home to the largest train station south of Washington, D.C. — the Jacksonville Terminal, which opened in 1919 and is now part of the Prime Osborn Convention Center.
If LaVilla were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the U.S. Park Service would have to give permission before any buildings could be changed or demolished.
Ennis Davis is a lead historian and planner on the project and shared a few details about the initiative.
A Phase 1 survey was used to “update, evaluate and understand the properties here from an architectural, cultural, archeological and historical significance that will pave the way for the official nomination process,” Davis said.
Phase I provides an updated Historic Resources Survey that lists the Globe theater (now the Clara White Mission), Grand Lodge at 410 Broad St. and Stanton School (the first African American high school in Florida) as buildings still standing.
The second phase is the development of a National Register nomination, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“We’ll work for the next six months with the city of Jacksonville historic preservation office, the state historic preservation office and National Park Service reviewers to determine the historical boundary,” Davis said.
For more information about LaVilla Preservation go to lavillauptown.org.
