PICTURE ABOVE -- Here's one of the last two remaining mansions from The Row, a gallery of elegant residences along Riverside Avenue during the early 1900s.  Situated near Memorial Park at 1541 Riverside, this dwelling was constructed in 1906-1907.  Its first owner was R. L. Stringfellow, a wholesale grocer, and he was followed by James L. Medlin, a turpentine magnate.  Medlin and other turpentine industrialists were jokingly referred to as "the Gum Bunch." 

Jacksonville once served as a center for "naval stores," substances obtained from pine trees, including such sticky stuff as resin and turpentine.  The term "naval stores" comes the days when wooden sailing ships, including naval vessels, were waterproofed with pine products.  Nowadays, turpentine is used for medicines, solvents, paint thinners, and other items.  Resin has been utilized for everything from glue for envelope flaps to ingredients in ointments & plasters.

The Medlin family owned their Riverside Avenue house for sixty years.  Now beautifully restored, it contains offices for Northeast Florida Dermatology.

(Source of images:  Copyright by Website Manager, JacksonvilleStory.com)

PICTURE ABOVE -- Shingles cover most of this dwelling, including the main porch posts and the arch over the entrance.  One of the final two houses from "The Row," the structure stands at 1521 Riverside Avenue and dates from about 1901 to 1905.  Its original owner, William J. Kelly, the vice president of the Naval Stores Export Company, belonged to the Gum Bunch.