Suburban Jacksonville: Exploring Cedar Hills

[fieldafm]

My mother took me to the Penney's when I was small.  I remember being afraid of the escalator.  I also remember going to S&S Cafeteria and to the Cedar Hills Theater. 

Wow, I hadnt thought of the Penney store there for a long time.  I was also deathly afraid of that escalator b/c I got a pair of wool pants stuck in there and I thought it was going to eat my leg.  Fortunately, a woman in the shoe dept(at the foot of the escalator) quickly reacted and hit the emergency stop button.  What a random memory... thanks Jaxson!

[jandar]

Miss the old neighborhood, thanks for the memories.
Spent 15 yrs on Autlan Dr, and many more around wesconnet/103rd.
Cedar Hills was the place to go shopping. Penny's then a movie at Cedar Hills Theater.

Times have changed.

[Charles Hunter]

I remember JC Penney's and the movie theater.  Also remember the 1:32 scale slot car track in the recessed section of the older part of the center (south of Wilson).  Spent many an hour, and dollar, getting my ass whipped by kids who had the skills and money to soup up their slot cars.

[deathstar]

Ennis.. that ariel view of Cedar Hills 1959 is as close to seeing Lakeshore Blvd. I've gotten. Are there ANY images on the internet of houses, streets, ariel views, specifically within the confinds of the neighborhood in the middle of Lakeshore Blvd., Blanding Blvd.  & San Jaun Ave.? I've got such an interest in old images, and this is the only site I've ever been able to find any.

[thelakelander]

I'm sure there are more on the state's database but here are a few.

Park Street and Lakeshore in 1958


Cassat at Blanding in 1955


Aerial of Cassat and San Juan in 1955


Gas station on San Juan in 1962


http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/

[Ocklawaha]

There were several more still's operating along the Ortega River "above" Yukon, well into the 1960's. Hee Hee!



I remember thinking Cedar Hills was, "the biggest shopping center in the whole wide world." The little alcove in the middle of the original shopping center (everything South of Wilson) was once very pretty and begged one to take a break. I think it had a little fountain in it way back when??

Most of the cool stores that kept these places popular are gone, victims of the Walmart Big Box concepts.  McCrorys, Kresge, Murphy's, TG&Y, W.T. Grants, F. W. Woolworth, Rexall (Pharmacys + Fountains), Kress, Peterson's 5 & 10, and Ben Franklin 5 & 10... one of which was owned by a guy named Sam Walton.

OCKLAWAHA

[lewyn]

I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums.  They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County).  How grim!

[thelakelander]

For long term viability, these places will have to take a look at revising the land uses to make it possible for mixed-use development to sprout up at major and secondary intersections.  Cedar Hills also includes a ton a drainage ditches and undeveloped utility easements.  Since it lacks greenspace, it would not be a bad idea to start taking advantage of these spaces as linear parks that would strengthen recreational, pedestrian and bicycle network options within the area.  Other than that, I agree.  The future of neighborhoods like this will be grim if an effort isn't made to change the character from a complete focus and reliance on the automobile.

[civil42806]

I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums.  They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County).  How grim!

love quotes like that, theres no way the burbs can survive.  This area has been around for 60 years lot more people living around cassat, san juan than downtown

[Ocklawaha]

I don't see how any of these neighborhoods have any future other than as slums.  They lack the walkability of intown neighborhoods (so no hope in that market) and lack the newness of outer suburbs (so they can't compete successfully with Mandarin or St. Johns County).  How grim!

OMG! I'm actually finding myself reading "CIVIL" and agreeing in general with his take.  Being nearly twice as old as the average MJ board member and many of its posters, gives me a cool prospective. My family had a house in North Long Beach, California. I watched that little place go from a pre-war ALL WHITE, farm with craftsman, caught up in a boom of ranch style cottages and postage stamp lots, to an old and neglected burb, to a settled "old folks bario" to today, a younger, more upwardly mobile, Hispanic and Black neighborhood full of restorations.
More recently I visited some old haunts in both Ortega, Ortega Hills and Venetia. The same processes are at work here that swept Long Beach. What were some of those big changes?

From: Rural highways and roads with INTERURBAN service, slow hit and miss growth, wide open spaces, no zoning, no codes, well water, no AC, no sewer, no walks, no traffic lights, no street lights, few shrubs and trees, some open ditches, virtually no park space, heavy industry close-in...

To: Broad Boulevards, highways with INTERURBAN service and BUS service, A tract house phase with rapid growth, helter-skelter infill everywhere, zoning and building codes introduced, early water-sewers, no walks, few traffic lights, few street lights, "boiler plate" landscaping, open ditches, virtually no park space, heavy industry close-in...

To: Broad Boulevards, FREEways, buses and major blight, disrepair phase, 2nd-3rd generation ownership, spotty zoning, building code violations, water and sewer problems, sidewalks added, traffic lights and street lights proliferate, mature landscaping or DEAD landscaping, curbs and gutters, limited park space, closed industries.

To: Broad Boulevards Freeways, buses, and LIGHT RAIL, restoration phase, 3rd - 5th generation ownership, comprehensive zoning, up to code, new utilities, sidewalks, traffic lights, street lights, bus and LRT shelters, landscape restoration, curbs and gutters cleaned up, park space enlarged on bones of former industry sites. Bike Lanes and Paseo system opened and park n ride introduced, most rail freight bypasses the neighborhood.

Incredible that some people don't think it can be done in Jacksonville... Take a drive through Ortega Hills, and I'd suggest it is already happening. Ortega Hills is light years ahead of it's position in 1980. Two parks promised these residents in 1954 finally became a reality and the pride is resurgent.

I agree with LAKE that things must be done to bring these places into the new milenium. Certainly the expansion of parks and trails or green space has helped elsewhere. Sometimes it's the small details that are all it takes to get that pride back, perhaps access to the river? Sidewalks on both sides of the streets? Bus Shelters? Parks? Civic Buildings? Joint efforts with churches, schools and commercial property owners with common goals?

Next come the bronze "Cedar Hills Restoration" signs, I'll call for the LIGHT RAIL!


OCKLAWAHA

[ricker]

This is a moment in time I wish I had not missed!
Thanks for all the effort put into documenting some of the area's history!

[ricker]

Calling any and ALL volunteers!
Sorry for the last minute notice.

Saturday June 4, 2011  8a.m.

Greenscapes of Jacksonville, JEA Forestry division, Lake Shore middle, JSO school resource officer, parks and recreation and LAPS volunteers (www.lapsjax.org / www.lapsjax.blogspot.com) are gathering forces to plant 32 (30gallon size) treees and we NEED your help!

live oaks, swamp oaks, chestnut oaks, crepe myrtles, yaupon hollies, red cedars are all part of phase 1 of a large scale beautification and reforestation of the ballpark on LakeShore Blvd at the south end of Hamilton Street, across from Lamb's Yacht Center.

Refreshments provided.

We welcome your participation in giving back to the westside of our great city!

Thanks in advance!
see you there.

[deathstar]

Those images are so amazing, thanks guys! Anybody remember some sort of construction accident that happened where the Winn Dixie is today? I know there was a JCP's there before, was it something to do with that?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'm doing some remodeling to the kitchen of my home in CH and have found some interesting things, ie - door/window headers in walls, block removed during a remodel, hidden electrical wires

Where would one go to try and find original plans for the home?

Who was the developer at the time that built the subdivision?

Where can I get my hands on some of the older maps that show the area in, say, the 60's?

[stephenross]

to deathstar

I grew up on Aldington Drive @ Wilson Boulevard, approximately 1/2 mile west of the Shopping Center.  Winn-Dixie was originally located in the older part of the shopping center on the corner at Wilson Blvd. (where S & S Cafeteria would eventually locate).  The new section of the shopping center was built North of Wilson Blvd and South of Hyde Park Blvd/Rd, bordered by Blanding Blvd to the East and Ellershaw Road to the West.  Winn-Dixie moved it's operation into their new store at the end of the shopping center, (nearest Hyde Park Blvd/Rd.) and its neighbor to the South was Western Auto.  I recall Winn-Dixie employees "literally" moving shelf items from the old store to the new..in shopping carts.  (They did this for days).  Upon vacating the premises a Colonial Food Store assumed the location in an effort to compete with Winn-Dixie;  however, its tenure was short-lived.  As for a construction accident, I don't recall any problems with any phase of the (strip) center, only the Cedar Hills Theatre.  The (higher than normal - for concrete block) walls were constructed of "regular" concrete block, and apparently the wind kept blowing the walls down after workers left for the day/weekend.  As I recall, that happened twice. No one has mentioned Atkinson's Pharmacy which (I believe) was Winn-Dixie's (original) neighbor.  They had a soda fountain that made KILLER Chocolate Shakes that were 45 cents.  Ah Geeessee.  I just looked down at my keyboard to find the "cents" symbol to use after 45...and it's NOT THERE.  PROGRESS!  Some things are just best LEFT ALONE!