Features exploring Jacksonville’s past — historic neighborhoods, key figures, and events that shaped the city and region.
Featured image for “WHAT TO DO | Wasabi Con; Arlington Mod home tour”
Wasabi Con this year includes a cosplay competition. | Wasabi Con via Facebook
October 7, 2026

WHAT TO DO | Wasabi Con; Arlington Mod home tour

The Wasabi Con anime festival in Downtown Jax and “Jacksonville’s grooviest home tour” in Arlington are What to Do this…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | The oak tree that remembers Black Bottom”
October 7, 2026

THE JAXSON | The oak tree that remembers Black Bottom

Much of the Jacksonville neighborhood known as Black Bottom has disappeared from the landscape.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Eartha White: Turning sports into opportunity”
Eartha and her mother Clara White circa 1910 (left). Eartha circa 1896 (right). | State Archives of Florida
September 30, 2026

THE JAXSON | Eartha White: Turning sports into opportunity

How humanitarian and institution builder Eartha White used athletics to uplift Jacksonville’s Black community.…

Featured image for “At the Italian American Club of Jacksonville, Ohioans bring the spaghetti-supper love”
Italian American Club of Jacksonville members preparing a spaghetti dinner. They refused to reveal any details of the house recipe for meatballs and sauce | Hanna Raskin
September 29, 2026

At the Italian American Club of Jacksonville, Ohioans bring the spaghetti-supper love

The Italian American Club of Jacksonville will host its Festa Italiana on Oct. 24. Get a taste any month at…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Before the city arrived: The story of Panama Gardens”
Developed during the early years of Florida’s great land boom, the Panama Gardens neighborhood represented an early attempt to combine suburban living with the benefits of country life. | The Jaxson
September 23, 2026

THE JAXSON | Before the city arrived: The story of Panama Gardens

North of Downtown Jacksonville, the Panama Gardens neighborhood preserves a century-old vision of suburban life that was remarkably ambitious for…

Featured image for “A reissue revived Robert Lester Folsom’s music; Jacksonville musicians bring it to the masses”
The touring outfit for Jacksonville-based singer songwriter Robert Lester Folsom (center) is made up of (from left): Jeremy Marshall Blanton, Landon Gay, Owen Barrett, Brooke Garwood, Jeremy Prince and Kevin Peacon | Tyler Valley
September 22, 2026

A reissue revived Robert Lester Folsom’s music; Jacksonville musicians bring it to the masses

Backed by a group of Jacksonville musicians half his age, Robert Lester Folsom is reaching new audiences.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Sugar Hill: Images of a lost Jacksonville neighborhood”
Brewster Hospital, seen here in the early 20th century was an anchor of Sugar Hill, which stood among Jacksonville’s most prosperous and influential African American neighborhoods | General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church
September 15, 2026

THE JAXSON | Sugar Hill: Images of a lost Jacksonville neighborhood

A photographic glimpse into Sugar Hill, once one of Jacksonville’s most prominent African American neighborhoods…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Warehouses of history: Jacksonville then and now”
Jacksonville’s historic warehouses tell the story of a city shaped by railroads, shipping, manufacturing and commerce.
August 19, 2026

THE JAXSON | Warehouses of history: Jacksonville then and now

Jacksonville’s historic warehouses tell the story of a city shaped by railroads, shipping, manufacturing and commerce.…

Featured image for “LGBTQ artwork returns to Five Points with a mural celebrating diversity”
Artist Shaun Thurston's has begun painting a mural on Lomax Street. The boxes are windows. | Community Task Force
July 27, 2026

LGBTQ artwork returns to Five Points with a mural celebrating diversity

The 1,700-foot mural follows a state order last year banning rainbow-colored crosswalks.…

Featured image for “Part of the USS Jacksonville submarine could wind up in Downtown Jacksonville”
The USS Jacksonville leaves Joint-Base-Pearl-Harbor is this undated photo. | Bring The Sail 2 Jax
July 24, 2026

Part of the USS Jacksonville submarine could wind up in Downtown Jacksonville

The sail structure of the decommissioned submarine could be displayed next to the USS Orleck.…

Featured image for “Historic Black church in Palatka is recognized on National Register”
St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Palatka is an example of the Carpenter Gothic style of architecture. | City of Palatka
July 8, 2026

Historic Black church in Palatka is recognized on National Register

The 143-year-old church was described as one of the most significant African American churches in Florida.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | How Dennis Street became an industrial powerhouse”
July 8, 2026

THE JAXSON | How Dennis Street became an industrial powerhouse

Long before Jacksonville’s Westside became synonymous with warehouses and distribution centers, a single developer saw opportunity in an overlooked stretch…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s 4 disasters (and recoveries)   ”
The Church of Immaculate Conception after the Great Fire of 1901
June 24, 2026

THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s 4 disasters (and recoveries)   

This is the story of Jacksonville’s recovery from four major disasters. In James Weldon Johnson’s lifetime, Jacksonville suffered three major…

Featured image for “WHAT TO DO | ‘You Are Here’; JWJ BDay 5K & Block Party; Skate and Surf Film Festival”
June 17, 2026

WHAT TO DO | ‘You Are Here’; JWJ BDay 5K & Block Party; Skate and Surf Film Festival

An art show in LaVilla, a 5K and block party Downtown Jax, and the Skate and Surf Film Fest in…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s working waterfront in 1930  ”
June 17, 2026

THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s working waterfront in 1930  

This collection of historic photographs capture the maritime and industrial character of the city’s working waterfront in 1930.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s Cuban Americans fought the Spanish-American War at home”
June 10, 2026

THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s Cuban Americans fought the Spanish-American War at home

Cuban immigrants living in Jacksonville raised money, shipped supplies, and sustained a revolutionary movement dedicated to ending Spanish rule in…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Mixon Town’s poultry giant: Draper’s Egg & Poultry ”
A historic photo shows an aerial view of Draper's Egg & Poultry plant.
June 3, 2026

THE JAXSON | Mixon Town’s poultry giant: Draper’s Egg & Poultry 

For decades, Draper’s Egg & Poultry Co. provided jobs for hundreds of Jacksonville residents in Mixon Town.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jax, St. Augustine sites on Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s ’11 to Save’ list”
Historic photos show Jacksonville's Police Memorial Building under construction and as it looked when finished in the mid-70s.
May 27, 2026

THE JAXSON | Jax, St. Augustine sites on Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s ’11 to Save’ list

Downtown Jacksonville’s Police Memorial Building and St. Augustine’s Flagler-era railway depots make the 2026 11 to Save list.…

Featured image for “National Eucharistic Pilgrimage launches Sunday in St. Augustine”
The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine. The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will start there Sunday. | Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine.
May 21, 2026

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage launches Sunday in St. Augustine

The pilgrimage will start at the site of the first Catholic Mass in 1565 at the founding of St. Augustine.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s forgotten emancipation history  ”
May 20, 2026

THE JAXSON | Jacksonville’s forgotten emancipation history  

For Jacksonville, the story of emancipation is especially significant. During the Civil War and Reconstruction, the city became both a…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | The forgotten Chinese laundrymen who helped build Jacksonville ”
A view down Bridge Street, which was part of Jacksonville's small Chinese laundry commercial corridor in the late 1800s
May 13, 2026

THE JAXSON | The forgotten Chinese laundrymen who helped build Jacksonville 

Chinese laundrymen helped build Jacksonville, and their story deserves to be remembered during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Built by hand: Gullah Geechee labor and the making of Jacksonville”
May 6, 2026

THE JAXSON | Built by hand: Gullah Geechee labor and the making of Jacksonville

13 historic photographs tell the story of Gullah Geechee workers whose contributions often went unrecognized yet remain embedded in Jacksonville’s…

Featured image for “WHAT TO DO | Nature print workshop; Singalong Brunch; Bartram Living History Festival”
Singalong Brunch takes over The District's patio every Saturday in May. | The District via Instagram
April 29, 2026

WHAT TO DO | Nature print workshop; Singalong Brunch; Bartram Living History Festival

An art lesson out in nature in Arlington, a festive brunch in Springfield and a history festival in St. Johns…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | A century on Myrtle Avenue: The story of Moore Dry Kiln”
Now situated at the intersection of the Emerald Trail’s LaVilla Link and the S-Line Urban Greenway, the historic Moore Dry Kiln buildings have been repurposed for a variety of industrial and commercial uses.
April 29, 2026

THE JAXSON | A century on Myrtle Avenue: The story of Moore Dry Kiln

For over 100 years, the Moore Dry Kiln industrial complex near Downtown Jacksonville adapted, expanded and survived through changing economic…