PICTURE ABOVE -- Here's a stretch of Riverside Avenue on a postcard
postmarked February 18, 1911.
HIGH
SOCIETY--
To receive a dinner invitation to "The Row" used to be quite an honor.
This was the nickname for the northern portion of Riverside Avenue, when more
than 50 spectacular mansions lined its sides. During its glory days of the
early 1900s, Riverside Avenue ran through the residential showplace of the
Gateway to Florida.
The Row extended about seven blocks, from Margaret to Edison
streets, a stretch that today includes Memorial Park, the Cummer Museum, and the Garden
Club.
Entertaining proved
such a way of life along The Row that its houses were sometimes designed with
this in mind. According to George Hallam's wonderful memoir
Riverside Remembered, a well laid-out residence would boast a
dining room that opened into a wide colonial hall that ran through the
structure's center, giving partiers easy access to first floor rooms. A
reception could prove a feast of flora, with chambers decked with palms, ferns,
autumn leaves, magnolia wreaths, bridesmaid roses,
and yellow and crimson chrysanthemums.
Even more eye-catching were the ladies, showing off Paris gowns of satin,
Brussels lace, and crepe de chine.
A butler might greet the guests,
and the hosts would bid them welcome in a receiving line. While an orchestra
provided mood music, visitors could partake of ice cream in the dining room, coffee
and chocolates in the den, and a
punch bowl in the library. These were the grand days of
formal dinners, dances, teas, holiday celebrations, and debuts for Riverside's
debutantes.
Perhaps the centerpiece of ritzy Riverside Avenue was a five-story gingerbread house
situated not far too north of The Row.
This popular hang-out for weekend visitors, located in the neighborhood of
Brooklyn, belonged to Jax Mayor J. C. Greeley, father of prominent local architect Mellen C.
Greeley. The dwelling's tower gave a terrific view of the downtown
harbor. Many photos were taken from this vantage point, and a number of these images ended up on
postcards and in books and brochures.
CLICK HERE for the Greeley residence
(Source of images: Florida Collection, Main Public Library, Jacksonville)
PICTURE ABOVE -- A pink parasoled lady
strolls down Riverside Avenue in about 1910. This old postcard indicates
that the scene is "at the bend," which today would be next to the entrance to
Memorial Park. This is where the street makes a sharp turn southwest.
BOVINE INVADERS -- The Row may not have been as
exclusive as some of its residents wished. During the early 1900s, the
Florida cowboys may've been as welcomed as the Clampetts would be in Beverly
Hills: These wranglers on horseback often herded their cattle down Riverside
Avenue. They were headed to a slaughterhouse on Lackawanna (now Edison) Avenue. Someone
would cry out "Cattle comin'!" Then, according to Riverside Remembered,
the bullwhips would crack and the hooves would kick the dirt into swirling clouds of
dust.
The Row is gone with
the wind. Almost every mansion fell victim to the bulldozer and
wrecking ball.
Modern office buildings and other commercial structures stand where many of the
stately homes once did.
Only two remain, a couple of wonderfully eclectic dwellings at
1521 and 1541 Riverside Avenue.
Both lie in the immediate vicinity of Memorial Park. The
neighborhood's demise was partly caused by commercial zoning, which also impacted Main Street
in Springfield in about 1930. Furthermore, The Row was cut up and transformed by the construction of the Fuller Warren Bridge and Interstate 95
during the Fifties. The building of highways and bridges also greatly
affected, for example, the neighborhood of East Jacksonville, which is in the
vicinity of Alltel Stadium.
CLICK HERE for a recent
photo of The Row
CLICK HERE for the
last couple of mansions
