Print ArticleA district is defined as an area of a country or city, regarded as a distinct unit because of a particular characteristic. In an era where the pedestrian was king in Jacksonville, downtown was loaded with distinct districts-- many of which are no longer with us. Here are a few lost districts that you may not be familiar with.
4. Hogan Street: A Shopper's Paradise
JCPenney and F.W. Woolworth shared a three story structure at Hogan and Monroe Streets. This building was demolished and replaced with the federal courthouse building in the early 2000s. Courtesy of the Jacksonville Public Library Special Collections Department.
For decades, no mall in Jacksonville could compete with the four blocks of downtown's Hogan Street, between Bay and Duval Streets. Anchored by May-Cohens' flagship department store, the 9th largest in the country when it opened, and Sear's Cadillac Store, the chain's largest in the South, the strip also was home to JCPenney, Levy-Wolf, Furchgott's, Rosenblums, and F.W. Woolworth. In fact, if these stores would have survived the "Billion Dollar Decade," no 21st century shopping center in town would compete with them either. Unfortunately, while new skyscrapers transformed the downtown skyline, six of these stores closed between 1981 and 1987, taking downtown's retail heart right along with them to the burbs.
Levy-Wolf at Hogan and Adams Streets in the early 1980s. Courtesy of the City of Jacksonville Historic Preservation Office.
Rosenblums at Hogan and Adams. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
The Sears Cadillac Store in 1960. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
May-Cohens at Hogan and Duval Streets during the early 1980s construction of Hemming Plaza. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Window shopping at Furchgott's Hogan and Adams flagship store during the 1940s. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
25 Comments so far
Jump into the conversation