LaVilla, Jacksonville, Florida One Place Study

Location: Jacksonville, Duval, Florida, United States
Surnames/tags: One_Place_Studies Florida United_States

Back to One Place Studies Project

Contents 1 LaVilla, Jacksonville, Florida One Place Study 1.1 Name 1.2 Geography 1.3 History 1.4 The Great Fire of Jacksonville in 1901 1.5 Population 1.6 Prominent Community Members 2 Sources

LaVilla, Jacksonville, Florida One Place Study

• Wikidata: Item Q6460978, en:Wikipedia
• WikiTree Profiles that link here

Name

LaVilla received its name in 1851. It was the name of a plantation owned by J. McRobert Baker.

Geography

Continent: North America

Country: United States of America

State/Province: Florida

County: Duval

GPS Coordinates: 30.3323, -81.6667

Elevation: 6.8 m or 22.1 feet

"LaVilla lies to the northwest in Jacksonville's downtown. It is bounded by State Street to the north, I-95 to the west, Broad Street to the east, and Brooklyn to the south."^[1]

History

During the Civil War, many slaves and free people of color gravitated to the area around Jacksonville, Florida, where there was a large garrison of Union Soldiers which afforded them some protection. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Francis F. L'Engle purchased land in the area and established the independent city of LaVilla in 1866. He became the town's first mayor.^[2]

During Reconstruction and the ensuing years, African-Americans were the vast majority in LaVilla. By 1870, they were reportedly 70% of the population.^[2] Many enjoyed political positions in the community. Many were also prosperous business owners and socially prominent members of the town. A lot of the residents also worked in neighboring Jacksonville in the booming building, hotel, port, lumber, and railroad industries.

In 1883, a railway station was established in LaVilla which made it a hub for people traveling down from the North. In 1919, the Union Terminal, the largest of its kind in the nation, replaced the original station.

In 1887, there were 3000 people living in LaVilla. That year, Jacksonville annexed LaVilla among with 5 other small neighboring suburbs, making it a neighborhood in what became Jacksonville's downtown.^[2][1]

Following annexation, laws were enacted that removed some of the privileges the African-Americans had been accustomed to while an independent city. In 1902, the state legislature put in place a new constitution which disenfranchised the Blacks from voting and holding political office.^[1]

After annexation and through the segregation era, LaVilla became known as "Harlem of the South" and enjoyed a lively night-life culture, which drew many top performers from around the country.^[3]

The Great Fire of Jacksonville in 1901

On the morning of May 3, 1901, the workers of the Cleaveland Fibre Factory in the neighborhood of Lavilla were laying out moss to dry. While they had taken a break for lunch, embers from the neighborhood ignited the moss. By the time they had discovered that some of the moss was burning, the winds had picked up driving the fire out of control. The nearby storage shed full of dried moss was ignited and went up in flames, throwing embers everywhere in the town. The fire department equipment was no match for the rapidly spreading fire whose plumes of smoke reportedly could be seen as far north as Raleigh, North Carolina. Block after block of wooden buildings were destroyed, but miraculously only 7 people died.

"By nightfall, the wind had died down, and the fire was running out of fuel. A total of 2,368 buildings and 466 acres of city territory had been burned to the ground. Twenty-three churches, ten hotels, and every single public building except one federal office structure was destroyed. National Guard troops rallied to the scene to preserve law and order, but the city itself was practically deserted. Nearly 10,000 people had lost their homes, and were forced to take up temporary residence in tents sent to Florida by the United States government.^[4]

View of Jacksonville harbor - Jacksonville, Florida. 1894.

City going up in smoke.

Looking down Forsyth Street at a devastated district after the fire of 1901.

Population

Population statistics vary by source:

• In the 1880 census, the population in LaVilla was 1565, which included blacks and whites.^[5]

• A graduate thesis compiled by a history graduate student, Patricia Drozd Kenney of the University of North Florida, in 1990 yielded the following results:

Population of LaVilla, by Race, 1870-1887
Year	Black*	White	Total
1870	831 (77.1)	247 (22.9)	1078
1880	1541 (71.3)	619 (28.7)	2160
1885**	866 (66.9)	428 (33.l)	1294
1887+	849 (61.6)	529 (38.4)	1378

• Sources and Notes: U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census, 1870; U.S.Tenth Census, 1880; Florida Census, 1885; and Richard's Duplex Jacksonville Directory, 1887. The Florida Census, 1885 did not include the total population of LaVilla. *Mulattoes are included as blacks. +Adult population. Percentage figures given in parentheses. ^[6]

Prominent Community Members

Rev Penn Brooke Braddock.

James Weldon Johnson

Bishop Abraham Grant

• Reverend Penn Brooke Braddock (bef.1849-bef.1900) :"Pastor of East Jacksonville church and of St. Paul's church in Lavilla, where he built the first brick church in Florida (AME) and paid for it. He materially assisted the Rev. W.P. Ross in erecting the Divinity High School building which is now the pride of the Conference. Presiding Elder of Jacksonville District, East Florida Conference in 1890."^[7]
• Bishop Abraham Grant (1848-), born a slave, ran away and joined Union Army, went into the ministry, where he was elected the 19th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, also Grand Master in the Union Grand Lodge.^[8]
• James Weldon Johnson (abt.1871-1938) - American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist^[9]

Alexander Darnes

Eartha Mary Magdalene White and mother Clara White

• Alexander Hanson Darnes (abt.1846-1894), the first black physician in the city of Jacksonville and the second in the state of Florida.^[10]
• Ada (Williams) Bracy (abt.1860-1952), wife of Reverend Penn Brooke Braddock. She and her husband personally financed the first brick structured church in Florida. ^[11]
• Eartha Mary Magdalene White (1876-1974), a humanitarian, businesswoman and philanthropist who established many organizations and businesses to help African-Americans, including the Clara White Mission, Mercy Hospital and the Boy's Improvement Club, to name a few. ^[12][13][14]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia contributors, "LaVilla," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LaVilla&oldid=1128908190 (accessed January 3, 2023).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} LaVilla: The Rise & Fall of a Great Black Neighborhood
3. ↑ Harlem of the South: The History of LaVilla
4. ↑ The Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB8-89?cc=1417683&wc=XC3W-L29%3A1589395953%2C1589399648%2C1589396377%2C1589395006 : 24 December 2015), Florida > Duval > Precinct 7 > ED 31 > image 1 of 32; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.)
6. ↑ LaVilla, Florida, 1866-1887: Reconstruction Dreams and the Formation of a Black Community
7. ↑ Reverend Penn Brooke Braddock. 1870 (circa). State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/154710>, accessed 3 January 2023.
8. ↑ Bishop Abraham Grant
9. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "James Weldon Johnson," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Weldon_Johnson&oldid=822318970 (accessed 29 January 2018).
10. ↑ Alexander Darnes
11. ↑ Complilation_of_PowerPoint_Presentations_2021_Leadership_Lyceum.pdf. p37
12. ↑ Eartha M.M. White and her mother Clara White - Jacksonville, Florida
13. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Eartha M. M. White," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eartha_M._M._White&oldid=1105471164 (accessed January 4, 2023).
14. ↑ Eartha M. White, p39

• Wikipedia contributors, "LaVilla," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LaVilla&oldid=1128908190 (accessed January 2, 2023).
• LaVilla: The Rise & Fall of a Great Black Neighborhood
• Jacksonville’s LaVilla area was once thriving haven filled with Black-owned businesses
• Vintage Photos: Vibrant LaVilla
• Harlem of the South: The History of LaVilla
• LaVilla, Florida, 1866-1887: Reconstruction Dreams and the Formation of a Black Community
• The Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901
• [ihttps://www.mwuglflorida.org/Site/documents/education/Complilation_of_PowerPoint_Presentations_2021_Leadership_Lyceum.pdf Complilation_of_PowerPoint_Presentations_2021_Leadership_Lyceum] -pp 23-65 highlights African-Americans from LaVilla and other areas of Florida who made an impact]