You have no idea of what was once located here!

5. Southern Express Company Stables


Late 19th century routes of the Southern Express Company. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

The Southern Express Company was established by Henry B. Plant in 1861. By 1900, Southern was one of four principal parcel express companies: Southern Express Company, Adams Express Company, American Express Company, and Wells Fargo. At the time, virtually all express delivery was done via horse, either by stagecoach or by riders.

With local offices in the nearby Jacksonville Terminal, in 1907, Southern Express built an 8,000 square-foot brick structure, at 1269 West Adams Street, to house its horse-drawn wagons and livestock being utilized to carry passengers and freight to and from the train station.


The REA (yellow) and REA garage (red) during the 1950s. The REA garage was originally stables for the Southern Express Company. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/166846

During World War I, the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) consolidated the country's largest express companies to form the Railway Express Agency (REA). Taking advantage of the city's rail infrastructure, the REA opened a large pacakging facility on Myrtle Avenue in 1925. With capacity for 250 railcars, it was believed to be the largest REA yard in the country.

Southern's old stables on West Adams Street became a garage for the nearby REA facility. By 1950, the building was being utilized by the REA for truck repair, welding and spray painting. The REA maintained this structure until shrinking rail traffic forced it into bankruptcy during the mid-170s.



Since the closing of the REA's Myrtle Avenue hub and the nearby Jacksonville Terminal, this once vibrant industrial section of LaVilla has reverting back to nature. While this historic structure has been spared the wrecking ball that consumed most of the neighborhood in the 1990s, half of it no longer exists.





Stories Behind the Concrete Slabs of Jax: Part I

Stories Behind the Concrete Slabs of Jax: Part II

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com