Sniffing Along The Waterfront

[Metro Jacksonville]

Sniffing Along The Waterfront



During the Summer of 1969, the following editorial by Malcolm Johnson was printed in the Tallahassee Democrat. Mr. Johnson grew up in Jacksonville before moving to Tallahassee in 1937. Fifty years later, it offers us an incredible glimpse into the character of Jacksonville's historic urban waterfront.


Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-jul-sniffing-along-the-waterfront

[copperfiend]

Great read

[hightowerlover]

Smelly

[lindab]

This is a trip down memory lane for me. My dad had an office in a warehouse on the waterfront in the 1950s where the CSX building now stands. We always went past those scenes of activity - hustle and bustle - on our way to his office.

The more obvious pollution had been cleaned up but the river was still a dump for lots of stuff.
I remember the tar smell of the pilings and sitting on the docks watching the river's porpoise and manatees swim up river.
The waterfront then was a place for marine commerce, not a pretty overlook for office workers and casual riverwalk strollers.

[TD*]

Intersting, love the historical pieces

[jaxnative]

To the big, cleaner docks of the Clyde Line, merchants, miners and P&O passenger ships then, where few cargoes overpowered the rank emanation from stevedores slapping cards down incessantly in a mystifying game of "skin" played atop a stack of cross-ties.

My great-grandfather was the agent for the Clyde Steamship Line in Jacksonville in the 20's and 30's. 

[JaxNative68]

its a shame that Hubbard's Hardware on Bay Street, along with the surrounding buildings, has been lost.  What a nice building it was.

[Dog Walker]

Do you think in fifty years the Independent Life/Modis building will ever be considered "classic mid-twentieth century" architecture?

[BridgeTroll]

Great piece!

[Bewler]

God what an enormous mistake it was to demolish our wharfs.

[tufsu1]

Do you think in fifty years the Independent Life/Modis building will ever be considered "classic mid-twentieth century" architecture?

some might already consider it that.

[Overstreet]

God what an enormous mistake it was to demolish our wharfs.

If that were the case everything south of Bay street to the river would be run down wood pilings and ruins.  I'll post a picture later when I can access it.

[Dog Walker]

Ships got bigger, freight got containerized and wooden pilings in tropical waters have a limited lifespan.  It was a fascinating, vibrant area in its heyday, but times moved on.

[JaxNative68]

There is no reason that the wharfs couldn't have been modernized over the years and converted to private enterprises such us marinas, a city market, artesian center, etc.  But it all circles back to our city official not embracing our past and building upon it, but instead ignoring it and removing it.  Many other cities have taken the proper route with their old wharf areas such as Annapolis, Alexandria and San Fransico, just to name a few off the top of my head.

[Bewler]

^ Exactly, that was my point.