July 2022 – Page 2 – Jacksonville Blogger

Letter to the Commission

They are proposing a great many homes at the corner of Loretto Road and Kennedy Lane. We want less. Here is my letter.

To Whom It May Concern:

Citizens of Mandarin and Jacksonville and Adkinson, Marshall, Blanchard, Daniel E. ,Brown, Ian A. (Secretary),Elsbury, Jordan, Gallup, Randy, Garrison, Joshua A. , Hacker, David (Chair), Moldovan, Alex (Vice Chair),Porter, Jason, Schellhorn, Matthew E., Motes, Dawn D. , Padgett, Nicole.

RE: Exception-E-22-29

Have any of you noticed what the Nation’s Oldest City Planning Commission has allowed and voted for? Well, if you go to the City of St. Augustine, Florida, one of the Nation’s prime pieces of real estate, you can hardly move in the historic small space, as the commission has allowed such growth in a tiny area, the citizens can hardly enjoy their town.Visitors end up spending time in back-to-back traffic and walkers can no longer seemlessly walk the lanes without concerns of traffic. It is tragic.

We are asking that this NOT be said of our commission and that the historic property at the corner of Fairbanks Road and Loretto Lane be at least left to the less amount of homes.

Even with the lesser amount of homes, old and majestic great oak trees will be removed, a full pecan grove taken out, land and animals misplaced and flora and fauna disturbed on this 23.9 plot area. Devastatingly enough, the historic Bowden home which has been there since 1907 will be demolished.

Only 10 minutes south of Loretto and Kennedy Lane, where this proposal is being pushed by the wealthy builders, St. Johns County Commission, who allowed the historic district in St. Augustine to be overcrowded, has confirmed the Rivertown Project building of 4,950 homes. This is only 11 miles down San Jose Blvd, one of the 2 roads east of the St. Johns for traveling in and out. It is estimated at bringing more than10,000 people. San Jose Blvd is only one of two actual N-S entrance and exit points. What will happen to all of those cars traveling north and south in Mandarin? Back-to-back traffic, long waits, additional road stress, the need of more lanes( San Jose already cannot be expanded).

Too, a new bridge to connect Clay and St. Johns counties was projected to begin in 2022 so all of that new traffic and everything that comes with that is soon to be enacted.

Please….vote for LESS HOMES and more happy lives in Mandarin.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Nannette V. Ramey

Resident of Mandarin

See you tomorrow,

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July 22

The Early Years

The St. Luke hospital where I was born is not even in the Springfield area any more. I was the 3rd child of Alec Peeples Vaughan, Jr. and Geneva Kathryn Long Vaughan. My older sister , Kathryn Beatrice, was 6 years older and my brother, Alec Patrick was 3 years older. We lived at 2685 Lowell Avenue on the Westside of the city only miles from town.

My father worked at the naval air station NAS and at Cecil during his career. Daddy was hard-working not only at the workplace but he came home to complete various projects to make our lives easier. My Mom was a stay at-home Mom with a tender heart and fun leanings. We never lacked for something to do and were always on the move.

During my young years, we spent a lot of time with my grandparents, Lula and Clifford Long, who lived on Fitzgerald Street between what is now Interstate 10 and Beaver Street. My grandfather came here to get a job which prompted the entire family to come here and make Jacksonville home. We all have loved Jacksonville and do to this day.

See you tomorrow,

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July 21

The Neighborhood

Growing up, our area was called “the Woodstock neighborhood”. It was where we lived, played and loved. We loved our area. At the time we lived there, the houses were middle to low income type homes. When my parents purchased the home it was new and was located in the Woodstock Park area of Jacksonville, Florida.

The war had ended and with so many soldiers coming home, the Jacksonville market was flooded with young soldiers and their families looking for places to live. This neighbourhood was new and houses were going fast.

Daddy tells the story that the two of them went on a bus to look at the homes. They walked the neighbourhood and returned to the sales office with one picked out. When they put down the money to purchase it, the sales agent told them that house had just been sold. They were disappointed and as they went to leave, he called them back to look on the house map. He said there was one home left without a deposit and they could have it but it would be best to put the money down so as to guarantee the sale. They bought the house sight unseen.

2685 Lowell Avenue was a 3 br, 1 ba wooden house with a stand-alone garage. It had a century oak by the drive way and “quite beautiful”, my Dad said. We lived in that home until I was about 7. My parents purchased a 10 acre lot on Crystal Springs Road where they built a house and moved the family.

Going back over into “the neighborhood”, it seems so small and I hate to say it but old, dirty and run down. Places change…

Back in the day, it was new, clean and lovely. I remember that huge and I mean yuge oak tree by the drive, It’s no longer there either. Things change.

In my childhood, it was shade and beautiful and… too big to even climb.

See you tomorrow,

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July 21

The Edward Ball Building

So, this building is the Edward Ball Building. There was a zoning meeting there this morning of which I went to attend. As I left the area, I saw the front of the huge 141 feet, 11 floor office building and thought we all should know about it.

The Edward Ball Building is located at 214 N. Hogan Street in our fair city. It is an annex for the Jacksonville City Hall and has other important government office departments. The construction of the building began in 1960.

It was named in honour of Edward Ball who managed the duPont Trust. Ball’s sister had married the wealthy Alfred I. duPont and came to Florida with his sister. He began to work for duPont and through a turn of events had various dealings which made great wealth.

Ball worked for his brother-in-law who created the Nemours Foundation. He had dealings with St. Joe Paper Company (also a founder), the Florida East Coast Railroad and the Florida National Bank.

The building was later purchased by the city for $23 million. It was voted on to name it the Edward Ball Building by the city of Jacksonville because of the many contributions he made to Jacksonville.

Oh, and I was there for a 12:00 meeting but when I found out it was rescheduled for 1:00, I signed in and left my letters to the commission members.

See you tomorrow,

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July 20

Welcome to Jacksonville Blogger.com

Today is July 20th, 2022 and this is my first post on Jacksonville Blogger.com. I hope to blog a lot about our fair city.

I was born in Jacksonville and have loved it since a child. While growing up, my parents only had one car and of course, my father needed it to get to work so my mother would drag the 3 of us, Kathy, Patrick and myself on the bus and we’d go to downtown Jacksonville.

Back in the day ( 1950’s) downtown Jacksonville was hustling and bustling. The great places downtown were those such as J. C. Pennys, Furchgotts, Walgreens Drug store, the Florida Theatre, Hemming Park the old post office and more….

I wonder about your experiences with our fair city.

See you tomorrow,

Nan

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