We're taking a sea gull view of the Northbank on June 16, 1942.  This area lies east of the Main Street Bridge.  The Jax riverfront didn't look much better in this vicinity than it did west of the bridge.  Docks and shipyards lined the shore.  During the past couple of generations, however, most of these structures have given way to newer construction. 

The arrows point to the following spots:

Blue arrow -- Main Street Bridge, the blue-colored span that still carries traffic.

Red arrow -- The site of today's Jacksonville Landing marketplace.

Violet arrow -- The location of the present-day residential community Berkman Plaza.  (CLICK HERE for the Berkman homepage.)

Green arrow -- The old Maxwell House Coffee factory, which still makes its presence known with a rich aroma and the dripping "Good to the Last Drop" coffee cup sign. (CLICK HERE for another picture of this site, next to the old Merrill-Stevens Ship Building Company.)

Orange arrow -- The future spot of "One Shipyard Place," a condominium complex that will be the western part of The Shipyards residential development.  This prestigious property will stretch from Berkman Plaza to Metro Park, near Alltel Stadium. (CLICK HERE for The Shipyards website.)   

Yellow arrow -- The spot of today's Hilton Hotel, which stands on the Southbank.  (Notice how empty large patches of the Southbank area used to be!)

THE WORLD AT WAR -- What was happening on planet earth the day this image was snapped?  Many Jax residents were no doubt glued to the events of World War II:

*** A German sub sank the British cruiser HMS Hermione with a loss 87 sailors.  An Allied convoy from Gibraltar to Malta successfully arrived at its destination, but air attacks forced back a convoy scheduled from Alexandria to Malta/Tobruk.

*** British troops abandoned El Adem in North Africa. There was now no chance of forming a front west of Tobruk. 

*** Because of a Czech traitor, Nazi authorities apprehended the seven men who had assassinated Reinhard Heydrich.  Dubbed the "The Blond Beast," Heydrich served as the leading planner of Hitler's slaughter of  European Jews.  Refusing to surrender, the assassins killed 14 Germans before being subdued in Prague.  The man who blew away Heydrich with a grenade, Jan Kubis, was fatally wounded.

Generally speaking, the war was not going very well for the Allies in 1942, but the tide would turn the following year.  Jacksonville certainly did its part for the cause.  Among other contributions, it built & repaired a number of ships.  And, of course, some of its citizens made the supreme sacrifice.

Contact the Website Manager

           -- Suggestions?  Comments?  Broken links?  Need research assistance?

  THANK YOU...  

       FOR VISITING THE JACKSONVILLE STORY,

        YOUR TIME MACHINE TO THE PAST