https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/neighborhoods-a-trip-through-old-mandarin-page-3/Lake, another great article on the often unknown history of rural Jacksonville.
Harriett Beecher Stowe and her husband, Professor Calvin E. Stowe helped organize the Church of our Savior in 1880. Unfortunately, the original Episcopal Church structure on the site was destroyed by Hurricane Dora in 1864.
To add to this, the destroyed church featured a significant stained glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany that was also destroyed during Hurricane Dora when a tree fell through the window. When it was installed, it was even mentioned in the New York Times.
In 1916, a memorial window to the Stowes was placed in the north end of the Church, overlooking the St. Johns River. Made by Tiffany, the window represented the oak trees of the Stowe house against the river and sunset sky. Admirers of Harriet Beecher Stowe all over the world contributed to its purchase and Church of Our Saviour became a popular tourist attraction.
http://www.oursaviourjax.org/visitors.aspx
In 2000, the city opened the 11-acre Walter Jones Historical Park, the first historical park in Jacksonville’s extensive park system. The riverfront park includes an 1875 homestead farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings, as well as an interpretive reconstruction of the Mandarin boardwalk that was a fixture of community in the late 19th century.
Note that the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society (
http://www.mandarinmuseum.net/) operates a Mandarin history museum in Walter Jones Park in a modern building imitating the Florida Cracker style represented by the 1875 farmhouse it shares the park with. For those interested in more of the history of Mandarin and the Maple Leaf, the museum is your best starting point.
In the 1950's to early 60's, there was an operational reduced-scale train pulled by a steam locomotive that catered to school aged children much like today's train at the Jacksonville Zoo. The Mandarin train operated through a wooded tract located where the Publix (formerly Harris Teeter, formerly Curry's Mandarin Supermarket) and Ramsgate subdivision are today at the north junction of San Jose Blvd. and Mandarin Road.
Need to add pictures of Mandarin's trademark islands in the center of Mandarin Road populated by century-old live oaks and County Dock (currently under reconstruction after its destruction by Hurricane Matthew)
.
