“A terrible journey” defines early drive to the beach

Local history accounts indicate there were a grand total of three automobiles in Jacksonville at the time of the 1901 Fire. In 1903, the number of locally owned autos peaked at 32. By 1905, the total increased to 166. In fact, in March of 1905, the Jacksonville Automobile and Motor Boat Club was organized as local enthusiasm increased.

By this time, the city government was alert to the growing trend and lawmakers had already passed a six mile an hour speed limit for downtown streets. The first speeding violation resulted in “a prominent businessman” being hauled into court.

On April 3, 1905, local automobile pioneer Fred E. Gilbert, driving a Victoria touring car, made the first automobile trip from Jacksonville to the beach. He described the trip “as a terrible journey.” At the time, the road—roughly the route of today’s Atlantic Boulevard— was only partially graded, an effort spearheaded by Gilbert that began more than two decades earlier.

Jacksonville’s population exceeded 60,000 in 1912, and by that time more than 1,000 autos were on city streets. Today there are 803,049 registered vehicles in Duval County.

The current St. Luke’s exhibit features major JHS collection

Leah Mary Cox: An intimate Perspective is the small, but powerful exhibit featured at a member open house and reception at Jacksonville Historical Society’s Old St. Luke’s on Wednesday, May 6. The exhibit, largely culled from the works of amateur local photographer Leah Mary Cox, highlights the more intimate side of the photographer’s life.

At age 21, Leah Mary Cox arrived alone in Jacksonville during the wild excitement of the 1888 Subtropical Exhibition. Soon, she was plunged into a world of quarantines and uncertainty as the Yellow Fever Epidemic spread through the city. In short order, her father died at the family’s Tallahassee home and her brothers and sisters and a sickly mother moved to Jacksonville where Leah functioned as head of household.

During the end of the century, Cox acquired a “large, unwieldy, professional-type box camera set on a tripod.” The camera involved the use of glass plate negatives, but did not demand immediate processing on site. From perches and peaks, Leah captured some of the area’s major sites; her images of the 1901 Fire’s aftermath are staggering; and she returned to the same perches a few years later to mark the city’s rebuilding effort. She also created stunning images of family members, friends and the city’s people.

It was long after Leah’s death in 1953 at age 86, when her photos reemerged. In the 1980’s Ron Masucci took an interest in the glass negatives stored in the San Juan Avenue basement of Leah’s old home. Eventually, he’d print photographs from the glass plates and research the images. Former JHS Board Member Susan Masucci, grandniece of Leah, and Susan’s husband, Ron Masucci, donated Leah’s body of work, 4,075 glass plate negatives, to the JHS in 2006.

The open house and a reception are 5:30 pm to 7:30 p.m. The exhibit ends July 30th.

The exhibit is currently open Tuesdays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the society’s archival repository, Old St. Luke’s, 314 Palmetto Street. For a small group talk related to the collection, phone 665-0064. The exhibit runs through July.

Don't miss the April Program!

Join the JHS and author Dr. Judith Poucher on April 30th at 6:30pm for a reception followed by a 7pm program, Mary Nolan: Jacksonville Suffragette and her Night of Terror. It's at Old St. Andrew's, 317 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.

Nolan was often described as the oldest suffragette in the National Women's Party picket line. She was arrested in the nation's capital in November 1917 and ended up at the Occuquan Workhouse where she endured the infamous "Night of Terror."

Easter Sunday, 1888: On this day, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, now headquarters of the Jacksonville Historical Society, opened for services. Construction began in 1887 spearheaded by architect Robert S. Schuyler. St. Andrew's served as an Episcopal church until 1957, when the area's declining population led to its deconsecration.

April 8, 1927: On this evening, the Florida Theatre’s Grand Opening began with a bugle fanfare from the American Legion Bugle Corps, followed by a live stage performance, The Pageant of Florida. The program continued with an 18 piece orchestra that rose into view from the orchestra pit. The silent movie, Let it Rain, with accompaniment from the Wurlitzer organ, was next. The evening ended with dancing on the building’s seven story rooftop garden.