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Historic Neighborhoods in Jacksonville Are Inspired by Architecture’s Best

Mon, March 07, 2011 10:10 am EST

JACKSONVILLE – HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS INSPIRED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
Jacksonville’s historic neighborhoods of Riverside and Avondale form one of the South’s largest neighborhoods designated on the National Register of Historic Places. Following Jacksonville’s Great Fire of 1901 these neighborhoods flourished and became a place for students of Frank Lloyd Wright, including Henry Klutho, to come and try their hand at a variety of architecture styles. The district is home to the largest collection of Prairie-style homes outside the Midwest. Klutho and others created these simple and elegant bungalow homes, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement.

Recently, the Riverside Avondale neighbohood was named one of the American Planning Association’s 10 Great Neighborhoods in America for 2010. It is the first neighborhood in Florida to win this honor. A free, self-guided multimedia tour of the historic district was also recently introduced. The video-enabled tour features information and vintage photographs of various sites along the tour and begins at the popular, weekly Riverside Arts Market along the St. Johns River. The tour lasts approximately an hour and covers two miles, winding through and around 20 blocks of historic Riverside. Discover the Rochester House, a haunted house that once played host to Abraham Lincoln’s widow, and then walk by the office of Leonard Skinner, the former coach who gave his name to one of Jacksonville’s most famous bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Other historic neighborhoods surrounding Downtown, including San Marco and Springfield, feature prairie-style architecture as well.