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48-500: The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah Hart , founder of Jacksonville. After Hart's death in 1861 and the end of the Civil War , the Hart family deeded the land to the city for $ 10. It was first known as "City Park", then "St. James Park" after the grand St. James Hotel was constructed across the street in 1869. The following year, another major hotel was built across from

96-643: A Whig member of the Florida Territorial Senate. The Isaiah D. Hart Bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville is named after him. Isaiah Hart's father, William Hart, a native of Pennsylvania, was a saddler by trade who moved south to Virginia and later settled in Burke County, Georgia , where Isaiah was born on November 6, 1792. In 1801, William Hart moved his family to East Florida when he received

144-526: A Florida flair. Buildings designed by Klutho were Dyal-Upchurch Building (1902), Carnegie Library (1905), Bisbee Building (1909), Morocco Temple (1910), and the Florida Baptist Building (1924). While many of Klutho's buildings were demolished or abandoned by the 1980s, several of his creations remain, including his most prominent work, the St. James Building . The Jacksonville City Hall currently uses

192-420: A concrete/brick-paved square and changing the name to Hemming Plaza. The second phase of city redevelopment was budgeted at $ 2.2 million, but was delayed in 1979. The money was used to construct a University Boulevard overpass of the rail yard adjacent to Philips Highway. Money was again budgeted in 1981, but was used instead to widen 103rd Street. In 1984, the project began, and lasted over two years. By this time,

240-411: A high-rise containing financial offices. The plan was supposed to be completed within 20 years, but many components were never implemented. By the mid-1970s, the image of the park had changed. Because the downtown had been invaded by thousands of starlings , the city had removed shade trees to drive the invaders from the park. The City renovated the park in 1977 at a cost of $ 648,000, converting it into

288-575: A land grant of 640 acres on Moncrief Creek and the Trout River from the Spanish governor. He and his sons Isaiah and Dan were citizens of Spanish Florida and served in the Spanish militia, but joined the so-called "Patriots of East Florida" during the Patriot War of East Florida , in which disaffected farmers and woodsmen, mostly from Georgia and led by rich planters, tried to seize control of East Florida from

336-430: A local dry goods company, engaged 34-year-old architect, Henry John Klutho to fast track design and manage the construction of a four-story building to house their store. The name "St. James Building" stuck to the property and the building. During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon both gave speeches at Hemming Park a few hours apart on October 18. President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered

384-618: A speech in Hemming Park on October 26, 1964. Because of its high visibility and patronage, the park and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s in the African-American effort to end racial segregation in public facilities. At the time, the city's population was about 45% black. Rutledge Pearson, a local high school teacher, and the NAACP organized many students to participate in sit-ins . Rodney Hurst

432-423: A timber business. He continued to buy more real estate, and by the mid-1830s had acquired 2,000 acres of land ten miles west of Jacksonville near present-day Marietta, where he established a plantation he called "Paradise". Hart's various enterprises prospered, and as his fortune increased, he invested in railroads and banks, and bought more slaves, eventually owning 57 human beings. He held various public offices and

480-520: Is by a comrade raised in testimony of his love, recalling deeds immortal, heroism unsurpassed. With ranks unbroken, ragged, starved and decimated, the Southern soldier for duty’s sake, undaunted, stood to the front of the battle until no light remained to illumine the field of carnage, save the luster of his chivalry and courage. Nor shall your glory be forgot, While fame her record keeps, CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL 1861-1865 About Charles C. Hemming: Charles C. Hemming

528-477: Is written either in a history of the Hart family or of the City of Jacksonville that Laura and Julia Streets in downtown Jacksonville were named for two of Isaiah and Nancy's daughters. When Duval County was incorporated in 1822, Hart saw new opportunities for development, and persuaded his neighbors John Brady and Lewis Z. Hogans to join his enterprise of platting a town. In 1822, Hart, Brady and Hogans began to lay out

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576-408: The 1971 Downtown Master Plan , using the idea of creating a Pedestrian mall surrounded by a transportation loop and abundant free parking. Another plan component was a group of elevated walkways that would permit shoppers to avoid traffic while moving from the retail core to the riverfront, which would contain a park, convention center including hotel, an exhibition center, Sears Department Store, and

624-565: The 1850 Jacksonville, Duval, Florida census taken 14 Oct 1850 with his wife and 7 children: Isiah D. Hart, age 57, planter, b Georgia, with wife Nancy, age 50, b South Carolina, and children: Oscar Hart, age 31, b South Carolina, a lawyer, Ossin Hart, age 29, b Georgia, a lawyer, Laura Hart, age 27, Lodiska Hart, 25, and Daniel Hart, age 20, a clerk, all born in Florida, Berry Briers, age 25, a laborer, born New York, Nancy Hart, age 18, listed as "idiotic", and Julia Hart, age 16, both born in Florida. It

672-478: The City Council changed the name of St. James Park to Hemming Park on October 26, 1899 (Ordinance E-9). The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed most of the wooden structures in Jacksonville and many others, too. Hemming's Confederate monument was one of the few structures to survive the fire. The St. James Hotel burned to the ground and the owner did not have the cash to rebuild. In 1910, Jacob and Morris Cohen, who owned

720-587: The City, and local officials hoped that he would select Jacksonville as the site for the monument. Hemming viewed several possible locations and expressed a preference for the center of St. James Park, where the fountain stood. Though reluctant to replace the popular fountain, the City’s Board of Public Works later gave its approval. A committee of the Robert E. Lee Camp managed the memorial project. But newspaper accounts appear to indicate that Hemming personally selected

768-822: The NAACP Youth Council ate at Woolworth's for a week to prepare the public for integration. Finally after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the city completed integration of water fountains, restrooms, and dressing rooms. On August 26, 2000, the NAACP, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Jacksonville Historical Society, the Human Rights Commission, and the Jacksonville Urban League hosted events to commemorate

816-612: The Plaza. Over $ 162 million was invested by the city in the buildings surrounding Hemming Plaza, including: A life-size cast bronze statue of U.S. Rep. Charles Edward Bennett , who served Northeast Florida in Congress for 44 years, was installed on a granite base in Hemming Plaza on April 23, 2004. In September 2014, the city of Jacksonville entered into a public-private agreement with the nonprofit organization, Friends of Hemming Park, to manage

864-541: The Spanish in 1812. As a young man participating in Patriot raids, Isaiah Hart organized bands of marauders that raided Florida plantations for slaves and cattle, drove them northward into Georgia, and sold them. Isaiah Hart married Nancy Nelson in 1818 and settled at King's Ferry where the old King's Road crossed the St. Marys River . After the United States took control of Florida, Hart observed an increase in traffic on

912-565: The base: A bust of Confederate General Kirby Smith on the north; a scene of Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with their drum corps on the west; and a bust of General J.J. Dickinson, commander of the UCV’s Florida Division on the south. Confederate Memorial in Hemming Plaza On the east side of the base is a plaque with the following inscription, most likely written by Charles Hemming: TO THE SOLDIERS OF FLORIDA This shaft

960-611: The beatings. Fifty people were injured and 62 were arrested, 14 whites and 48 blacks. The day's events were covered by national TV, as well as major newspapers such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times . Alton Yates participated as a 24-year-old, but he said some of the protesters were as young as 13, and he was shocked to see men beating children. He said the organizers gathered their forces again and continued sit-ins. In addition, committees of blacks and whites met to discuss and resolve racial issues. In April 1961, two leaders of

1008-559: The black community spent much money in retail purchases. They were denied service and frequently kicked, spit at, and addressed with racial slurs. This pattern continued for two weeks, until the 27th, a day now referred to as Ax Handle Saturday . On that day, a group of 200 "middle-age and elderly white men," including some members of the Ku Klux Klan , were arming themselves with axe handles and baseball bats. The student protesters were warned but each wanted to go ahead. The armed group entered

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1056-499: The blaze was soon out of control due to the wind picking up out of the east. A brisk northwest wind fanned the flames, which "spread from house to house, seemingly with the rapidity that a man could walk". In eight hours, the fire burned 146 city blocks, destroyed more than 2,367 buildings, and left almost 10,000 residents homeless, including the Afro-American Insurance Association, the first insurance company in

1104-546: The building exteriors across the city dry and fire-prone. At around noon on Friday, May 3, 1901, workers at the Cleaveland Fibre Factory, located on the corner of Beaver and Davis Streets, left for lunch. Several minutes later, sparks from the chimney of a nearby building started a fire in a pile of Spanish moss that had been laid out to dry. First, factory workers tried to put it out with a few buckets of water, as they had frequently done on similar occasions. However,

1152-469: The center of the park and a three-year Take ‘Em Down Jax Confederate monument removal campaign. On August 11, 2020 the Jacksonville City Council voted to change the name of the park in honor of writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson , a Jacksonville native. Isaiah Hart Isaiah David Hart (November 6, 1792 – September 4, 1861) was an American plantation owner, and

1200-474: The city was returned to civil authority on May 17. Seven human deaths were reported. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church , built of bricks in 1887, was the only major church in the city to withstand the fire. The Duval County Courthouse and all its real estate records were destroyed in the fire. To this day real estate deeds in Duval County refer either to "the current public records of Duval County, Florida" or, if

1248-497: The city's big retailers had already built new stores at the malls to meet suburban demand. The last three major stores closed their downtown locations. The empty storefronts attracted the homeless and the 1971 master plan became irrelevant. The Federal Government spent $ 84 million for the John Milton Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse , which broke ground in 2000 and opened in 2003, across from

1296-581: The fiber factory catches afire - the fire department comes - fanned by a light breeze, the fire is traveling directly east and spreading out to the north, over the district where the bulk of Negroes in the western end of the city live - the firemen spend all their efforts saving a low row of frame houses just across the street on the south side of the factory, belonging to a white man named Steve Melton." Florida Governor William S. Jennings declared martial law in Jacksonville and dispatched several state militia units to help. Reconstruction began immediately, and

1344-521: The founder of Jacksonville, Florida . Originally from Georgia , Hart took up arms against Spain in the Patriot Rebellion of 1812. After moving to a location near the cow ford on the narrows of the St. Johns River , he began platting the town in 1822, and later served as postmaster, court clerk, commissioner of pilotage, judge of elections, major in the local militia during the Seminole War , and as

1392-410: The history and celebrate the city's progress in the 40 years since then. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was created in 1970 to reverse white flight , related to suburbanization and development of retail malls, and end urban blight . They hired RTKL Associates Inc. , planning consultants from Baltimore , Maryland to study Jacksonville's situation. Their recommendations were incorporated into

1440-475: The memorial on behalf of the state. Though Hemming did not attend the dedication, General Fitzhugh Lee, the nephew of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was in the reviewing stand, and the grandson of Union General Ulysses S. Grant watched the unveiling from the piazza of the Windsor Hotel. In addition, both northern and southern troops from Camp Cuba Libre attended the ceremony, and much of the oratory concerned

1488-597: The monument in the spring of 1898, during the Spanish American War. At that time, the Springfield section of the City contained thousands of American troops living in a tent city known as Camp Cuba Libre. The unveiling ceremony took place on June 16, 1898, and coincided with the reunion in Jacksonville of the UCV’s Florida Division. Hemming donated the monument to the State of Florida, and Governor William D. Bloxham accepted

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1536-524: The monument, which was then approved by various committees of the UCV. George H. Mitchell of Chicago, Illinois – a designer, manufacturer, and contractor for artistic memorials – provided the monument. It cost approximately $ 20,000, and was a joint gift from Charles Hemming and his wife, Lucy Key Hemming, a native of Texas. The City moved the fountain to the northwest section of St. James Park, and George Mitchell traveled to Jacksonville and supervised installation of

1584-475: The north bank of the St. Johns from Lewis Zachariah Hogans, owner of the surrounding land, which was formerly part of the Taylor Grant, for $ 72 worth of cattle. Here, to the west of present-day Market Street, he built a store-cum-tavern that served as his residence, as well as a riverfront dock called Hart's Landing. Over the years Hart became prosperous enough to establish himself as a man of means. He appears in

1632-408: The original plat of Jacksonville to include all of his property, and moved the town business center to higher ground on a sand ridge. Here he set aside land for a public square (now James Weldon Johnson Park ), and surveyed smaller lots facing the square for the new shops and businesses that he anticipated would be built on Duval, Hogan and Monroe streets. When he died in 1861, Isaiah Hart was one of

1680-513: The park. The area was renamed Hemming Park in 1899 in honor of Civil War veteran Charles C. Hemming, after he installed a 62-foot (19 m)-tall Confederate monument in the park in 1898. Hemming was born in Jacksonville. He later moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado and became a banker, making a fortune. The memorial was the oldest in the city and was the tallest at the time. An occurrence in February 1896 brought lasting change to St. James Park. At

1728-495: The park. The organization is charged with revitalizing and programming the square. The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization was created by community leaders and members of The Cultural Council of Jacksonville, and Downtown Vision, Inc. The first Wednesday of every month, the ark is converted into the centerpiece of Jacksonville's Downtown Art Walk. On June 9, 2020, the park's Confederate monument and commemorative plaque were taken down during local George Floyd protests after 122 years in

1776-838: The plan of the town, naming it after Gen. Andrew Jackson , the provisional governor of the Florida Territory. The men gathered near the north bank of the St. Johns River and laid out a grid of eight streets. By this time, Hart was becoming prominent in the Territory; in 1824 he was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal of East Florida, and in 1826 as the Clerk of the County Court, an office he held until 1845. He successively held public office as postmaster, commissioner of pilotage, and judge of elections in Duval County. By 1830 Hart owned four slaves and managed his own farming and ranching operations, as well as

1824-622: The records predate the fire, "the former public records of Duval County, Florida." It is the only county in Florida for which that is the case. The only existing pre-Fire real estate records are title abstracts saved by Title and Trust, a title company that still charges for their use. New York City architect Henry John Klutho helped rebuild the city. He and other architects, enamored by the " Prairie Style " of architecture then being popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, designed exuberant local buildings with

1872-640: The reuniting of the North and South. The monument rises sixty-two feet from a square foundation. A column, extends up from the base (both made of Vermont granite), and is topped by the bronze figure of a Confederate soldier in winter uniform. He stands at ease, with hands clasping the barrel of his rifle that rests on the ground, and on his cap are the initials, “J.L.I.”, representing the Jacksonville Light Infantry. Bronze plaques, with images of Southern heroes sculpted in relief, are mounted on three sides of

1920-648: The richest men in Florida. He owned extensive real estate in north Florida, and had substantial stockholdings in the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad, the Jacksonville Natural Gas Company, the Bank of St. Johns County, and a steamship line, as well as 53 African-American slaves. His son, Ossian B. Hart , was active in the Republican Party, and became the tenth governor of Florida in 1873. Great Fire of 1901 The Great Fire of 1901

1968-559: The road as settlers came south from Georgia and the Carolinas to the Florida Territory . In 1819, William Dawson and Stephen Buckles opened a general merchandise store on the King's Road, near the cow ford at the narrows of the St. Johns River, where John Brady operated a busy ferry service. Hart realized that the location offered economic opportunities, and on May 18, 1821, he bought 18 acres on

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2016-471: The state reunion of United Confederate Veterans (UCV) in Ocala, Charles C. Hemming announced his plan to erect a memorial in honor of Florida’s Confederate soldiers. Members of the local Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans immediately invited Hemming to a reception in Jacksonville, which was attended by many prominent citizens. After moving from St. Augustine to Jacksonville at the age of two, Hemming grew up in

2064-522: The state. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in Savannah , Georgia, and the smoke plumes in Raleigh , North Carolina. James Weldon Johnson , principal of a local school claimed, however, that firemen tried to save the fire from spreading to a white neighborhood, allowing black parts of town to burn down in the process: "We met many people fleeing. From them we gathered excitedly related snatches:

2112-558: The store where they started attacking the students. Some of these found sanctuary in Historic Snyder Memorial, then a Methodist church. A couple of youths alerted the "Boomerangs," a group of older black youth, who entered the fray to protect the demonstrators. Although the organizers had alerted the police when they saw armed men, law enforcement did not intervene until the Boomerangs and other blacks started fighting back to stop

2160-588: Was a conflagration that occurred in Jacksonville, Florida , on May 3, 1901. It was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire , and the 1906 San Francisco fire . In 1901, Jacksonville was a city which consisted mainly of wooden buildings with wood shingled roofs. The city itself had been suffering under a prolonged drought, leaving

2208-663: Was admitted to the bar. Hart served as a major in the local militia during the Second Seminole War , and in 1839 was elected as a Whig to the Florida Territorial Senate. Although a slave owner himself, Hart supported the Union vocally and opposed secession , consequently becoming one of the founders of the Florida Whig Party . He maintained his stance on the issue while in the Territorial Senate. In 1859, Hart extended

2256-525: Was the president at age 16 of the NAACP Youth Council and years later, said the students were determined to carry out the protests to gain rights of service in stores that gladly accepted . Pearson and members of the NAACP had met with the city's mayor to ask for his support in integration but were rejected. The sit-ins began on August 13, 1960: students asked to be served at the segregated lunch counters at Morrison's Cafeteria , Woolworths , and other stores, where

2304-464: Was the son of Englishman John C. Heming (spelled originally with one “m”), who moved to Jacksonville in the mid 1840s, and worked both in the real estate business and as a bookkeeper. He also held a variety of public offices, including town auctioneer and City Councilman, and following his death in 1886, was buried in the Old City Cemetery. To honor Charles Hemming for his donation of the memorial,

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