American Motors Export Firm
801 West fifteenth Avenue
The American Motors Export Firm plant in Northwest Jacksonville. | Florida State Archives
In 1921, American Motors opened in Jacksonville with the objective of producing the Innes car. The automobile was the brainchild of Henry L. Innes and was meant as a revival of the short-lived Simms car, which had been produced in Atlanta, Georgia, solely a 12 months earlier in 1920. Innes had served because the manufacturing supervisor for the Simms Motor Automobile Firm earlier than pursuing his personal enterprise in Florida.
Henry L. Innes introduced with him a formidable résumé within the automotive business. Previous to arriving in Florida, he labored alongside the Dodge brothers on the event of the primary Dodge car, held a administration place at William Durant’s Common Motors and Chevrolet, and briefly served as vp of the Doble-Detroit Steam Motors Firm. Decided to launch his personal luxurious car model, Innes selected Jacksonville as the house for his manufacturing operations.
True to its identify, the Innes car was envisioned for the export market. It was an “assembled automobile,” which means its elements had been sourced from varied suppliers after which put collectively on the Jacksonville plant. Tragically, Innes died abruptly on the age of 46, shortly after the completion of his Fairfax Avenue manufacturing facility. On the time of his dying, solely six Innes cars had been produced. The plant was later repurposed by the Continental Can Firm to fabricate aluminum cans for the close by Jacksonville Brewing Firm, in addition to by Howard Feed Mills.
From 1980 to 2010, the location was occupied by Wooden Treaters, LLC, which specialised in pressure-treating utility poles, pilings, heavy timber, and plywood merchandise utilizing the wood-preserving chemical chromated copper arsenate (CCA). The corporate filed for Chapter 11 chapter in 2009. Subsequently, low ranges of arsenic contamination had been found in close by Moncrief Creek. The long-vacant former auto meeting plant was in the end demolished in 2015.
Jacksonville Municipal Electrical Gentle Plant
4215 Talleyrand Avenue
The J. Dillon Kennedy Producing Station. | Florida State Archives
In 1910, the Jacksonville Municipal Electrical Gentle Plant was constructed close to Talleyrand Avenue and East thirtieth Avenue, alongside the banks of the St. Johns River. Initially generally known as the Talleyrand Producing Station, the power was renamed within the Nineteen Sixties in honor of J. Dillon Kennedy, a former Metropolis Commissioner who performed a pivotal function within the development of what’s now JEA.
On the time, electrical energy in Jacksonville was provided by this plant, the now-demolished Southside plant, and a floating World Warfare II-era energy plant close to NAS Jacksonville generally known as the Inductance. Each the Kennedy Producing Station and the adjoining Nationwide Container paper mill burned high-sulfur gasoline oil, which periodically blanketed the town in black soot.The historic J. Dillon Kennedy Producing Station constructing was in the end demolished in 2007.
Ford Motor Firm
1901 Hill Avenue
An aerial of the Ford Motor Firm meeting plant. | Metropolis of Jacksonville
In 1923, Henry Ford bought ten acres of former shipyard property alongside the St. Johns River from the Metropolis of Jacksonville for $50,000, intending to ascertain a significant car meeting plant. Constructed between 1924 and 1926, the arrival of the world’s largest car producer marked a pivotal second in Jacksonville’s rise as an financial hub. The entire price of development and tools reached roughly $2 million. To assist the plant’s operations, the river channel was dredged, enabling Ford’s oceangoing freighters to dock immediately on the website.
The unique meeting plant encompassed 115,200 sq. toes of enclosed area. An adjoining powerhouse was outfitted with a 500-horsepower boiler to generate steam for the plant’s electrical turbo turbines. The power additionally featured its personal hearth safety system, supported by a water technology constructing that pumped river water right into a 75,000-gallon storage tank. On the entrance of the constructing, a elements division and a showroom showcased completed cars to the general public. In 1926, a 50,000-square-foot addition was constructed on the jap aspect of the construction to accommodate rising manufacturing wants.
Designed by famend industrial architect Albert Kahn, the Jacksonville Ford plant employed a whole bunch of employees throughout its peak. Though car meeting ceased in 1932, the power continued to function a elements warehouse till 1968. Regardless of its historic and architectural significance—acknowledged as one of the vital vital industrial buildings in Florida—the plant suffered a long time of decay. It was in the end demolished in 2023. The location is now residence to the Jacksonville Machine and Restore shipyard.
Atlantic and East Coast Terminal Firm
10 Jefferson Avenue
{A photograph} of the Atlantic Coast Line places of work within the Atlantic & East Coast Terminal constructing in 1939. | Florida State Archives
The Atlantic and East Coast Terminal Firm (A&ECT;) was fashioned in 1910 by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway. The freight terminal and supporting rail yard consumed eight steady blocks between West Bay and Forsyth Streets, simply west of Jefferson Avenue. On the time, the main industries in Jacksonville had been shipbuilding, lumber and cigar manufacturing. Partially destroyed by hearth, the A&ECT; terminal, which included 1.48 miles of trackage, was demolished in 1979 following a relocation of its operations.
Nationwide Container Company
1915 Wigmore Avenue
The Nationwide Container Company | Florida State Archives
Established in 1938 by Sam Kipnis, a Russian Jewish immigrant, the Nationwide Container Company’s paper mill changed the previous American Agricultural Firm’s Talleyrand phosphate works, which had been constructed alongside the St. Johns River in 1919. Beneath Kipnis’s management, Nationwide Container grew quickly and have become the third-largest field producer in america by the point it was acquired by Owens-Illinois in 1956.
Nonetheless, as a consequence of a courtroom order mandating divestiture, Owens-Illinois offered the Talleyrand mill to the Alton Field Board Firm in 1965. In 1981, Jefferson Smurfit accomplished its acquisition of Alton Field, bringing the Jacksonville mill beneath its possession. The following 1998 merger between Jefferson Smurfit and Stone Container marked the start of the mill’s decline. As a part of a company-wide discount in capability, 1.1 million tons had been lower from operations—ensuing within the indefinite shutdown of the Jacksonville containerboard mill, together with amenities in Circleville, Ohio; Alton, Illinois; and Port Wentworth, Georgia. Roughly 300 staff in Jacksonville had been laid off.
For many years, the mill was identified for producing a robust, disagreeable odor that permeated elements of the town. In 2005, the defunct facility was offered to Keystone Industries LLC and subsequently demolished.
Wilson and Toomer Fertilizer Firm
1611 Talleyrand Avenue
The Wilson and Toomer Fertilizer Firm was established in 1893 by Wylie G. Toomer and Lorenzo Wilson. Situated on a 31-acre website alongside the St. Johns River and Deer Creek, the power operated as a fertilizer formulation, packaging, and distribution middle. Within the Fifties, pesticide formulation operations had been launched, increasing the location’s industrial function.
At its peak, Wilson and Toomer operated satellite tv for pc factories throughout Florida in Tampa, Fort Pierce, Port Everglades, and Cottondale. The Jacksonville advanced served as the corporate’s administrative headquarters and employed 500 employees.
Possession of the plant modified arms a number of occasions starting within the Fifties. Wilson and Toomer offered the power to Plymouth Cordage, which later offered it to the Emhart Company in 1965. In 1970, the Kerr-McGee Chemical Company acquired the advanced and operated two crops on-site. These amenities had been used for the formulation, mixing, and packaging of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Kerr-McGee additionally produced sulfuric acid on-site to be used in fertilizer manufacturing and, for a time, ran a metal drum reconditioning facility adjoining to the pesticide storage warehouse.
Sulfuric acid manufacturing ceased in 1972, adopted by the top of superphosphate fertilizer manufacturing in 1976. Fertilizer-blending operations had been discontinued completely in 1978. The location’s remaining buildings had been demolished in 1989, marking the top of almost a century of commercial exercise.
Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc.
750 East Bay Avenue
An aerial of the Jacksonville Shipyards. | College of North Florida
The origins of Jacksonville’s shipbuilding legacy hint again to the 1850s, when Jacob Brock established the primary shipyard on the location now generally generally known as the previous Jacksonville Shipyards. Following Brock’s dying in 1877, the shipyard was offered to Alonzo Stevens. In 1887, Stevens partnered with James Eugene and Alexander Merrill to type the Merrill-Stevens Engineering Firm.
By 1918, the shipyard had grown considerably, using round 1,500 employees and boasting the biggest dry dock on the East Coast between Newport Information and New Orleans. Throughout this period, the shipyard performed a notable function in world infrastructure—establishing the barges used within the constructing of the Panama Canal.
Within the Fifties, Merrill-Stevens offered the Jacksonville operation and relocated to Miami, the place the corporate continues to construct yachts at present. In 1963, the location was bought by W.R. Lovett, who renamed it Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc. (JSI). Beneath his management, JSI flourished and have become Jacksonville’s largest civilian employer, with a workforce of two,500 earlier than being offered to the Fruehauf Company.
The decline of JSI started within the Nineteen Eighties, culminating in a short lived shutdown in 1990 that resulted within the layoff of 800 staff. Though it briefly reopened, the shipyard completely closed in 1992 after promoting its dry docks to a shipyard in Bahrain—leading to an extra 200 layoffs. The historic shipyard buildings, which had as soon as symbolized Jacksonville’s industrial power, had been demolished within the early 2000s.
Editorial by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com