7 Black Facts About Jax You Didn't Already Know!

[Metro Jacksonville]

7 Black Facts About Jax You Didn't Already Know!



In celebration of Black History Month, here's a few things you probably didn't know about Jacksonville.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-feb-7-black-facts-about-jax-you-didnt-already-know

[BridgeTroll]

I wonder when the name "Manhattan Beach" became the name for that area?  According to the 1898 Duval county map the area looks like it was named... "Burnside Beach" or "Mayport by the Sea".  Burnside Beach is shown at the terminus of the St Johns and Atlantic railroad.  To the north was "Jettyville" where Mayport naval station sits and to the south was "Nilesville".

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,26085.0.html

[thelakelander]

Manhattan Beach was established around 1900 by black railroad workers and flourished up until the early 1940s.

[BridgeTroll]

Huge repository of Black history at the beaches... Manhattan, Atlantic, San Pablo... including loads of names for geneology searching...

http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=788



Pavilion at Manhattan Beach...

[BridgeTroll]

http://www.coj.net/departments/parks-and-recreation/recreation-and-community-programming/docs/hanna-park/hanna-guide-jan2011.aspx

History and Nature:
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park’s pristine beaches have played a proud role in
Florida’s rich history as an inviting destination for relaxation and recreation.
In the 1880’s, Jacksonville residents and tourists traveled the JM&P Railroad along
what is now Wonderwood Expressway to Burnside Beach. In the 1900’s, African-
Americans working on the East Coast Railway established Manhattan Beach, the
state’s first African-American beach. Both Manhattan and Burnside beaches were
popular sites with cottages, pavilions and restaurants, and both were located within
the current boundaries of Hanna Park.

[Tacachale]

Huge repository of Black history at the beaches... Manhattan, Atlantic, San Pablo... including loads of names for geneology searching...

http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=788



Pavilion at Manhattan Beach...

That's Donald Mabry, a historian originally from the Beaches. His book on the Beaches, World's Finest Beach, also has some info on Manhattan Beach. From what I can understand, "Burnside Beach" referred to the wider area on that side of the "island" and was developed and used in the 1880s at least. Manhattan Beach developed out of part of the area a bit later on. It seems that "Burnside Beach" initially declined after a fire destroyed a resort there, and the original "Burnside House", in 1889, and the name declined in use.

[BridgeTroll]

Thanks Tach... Lakes article mentioned that "Manhattan Beach" was coined or established in 1900... the Library of Congress map I recently found was from 1898 and contained no mention of Manhattan... only Burnside which seemed to be at the terminus of the rail line to the beach...  http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3933d.la000075/

[Tacachale]

Stephen will like this passage involving Metro Jacksonville's official villain, Ed Ball:

The issue of African Americans and Manhattan Beach became more complicated when Edward Ball, the brother-in-law of Alfred I. du Pont. His sister Jessie inherited the Florida du Pont vast business empire when her husband died in 1935 but gave operational control to Ball. Because of these family connections, Ball was a powerful man when William H. Rogers (the R in R-C-B-S) wrote to [Atlantic Beach Corporation head Harcourt] Bull (the B in R-C-B-S) on January 27, 1933 in regards to Ball’s desires for Manhattan Beach. Rogers copied John T. G. Crawford (the C in R-C-B-S). According to the letter, Ball had just acquired title to the “Manhattan Beach property.” He wanted to buy from R-C-B-S a strip of land 1,000 feet behind his newly-acquired property, a statement that suggests he only bought some land not all of Manhattan Beach. Ball was a racist and he wanted the help of R-C-B-S not only in getting African Americans excluded from Manhattan Beach but also to get them off the oceanfront from the southern limits of Atlantic Beach to the St Johns River. Rogers wanted to meet with Bull, Crawford, and hid law partner C. C. Towers as soon as possible. This was serious.

Marsha Dean Phelts, in her informative folk history, An American Beach for African Americans wrote that the Mack Wilson’s pavilion, the last public facility, was mysteriously destroyed by fire in 1938. She repeats the story of old-timers that the fire was designed to drive African Americans out. She included photos from the Eartha White Collection of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The Beaches Area Historical Society also has these and other photos.

http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=788

[Tacachale]

Thanks Tach... Lakes article mentioned that "Manhattan Beach" was coined or established in 1900... the Library of Congress map I recently found was from 1898 and contained no mention of Manhattan... only Burnside which seemed to be at the terminus of the rail line to the beach...  http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3933d.la000075/

Sorry, it's been a bit hard to follow with all the crazy/disappearing comments.

That looks right. I'm not sure anyone knows where the name "Manhattan Beach" came from. If it was built in 1900, it would have been before blacks from the South started going to Manhattan en masse, which kicked off a few years later. Harlem as we think of it didn't exist yet. But like Stephen says, there were other connections, Brooklyn, Murray Hill, etc. The beach was founded by FEC, and a lot of the people involved (including Henry Flagler) were from New York.