User:Cuchullain/Eastside

Eastside or East Jacksonville is a neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida, located to the east of Downtown and Springfield.

Description
Jacksonville's Eastside is located east of Downtown and Springfield, and north and west of the St. Johns River. The area south of the Mathews Expressway – the location of the original East Jacksonville community – is now included in the Downtown central business district and is known as the Stadium District, as it is home to venues such as EverBank Field, the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, Metropolitan Park, and the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. However, some residential buildings still remain in the area. Today, the core of Eastside is the area north of the Matthews Expressway, east of the railroad tracks, and south of about 8th street; the riverfront industrial areas may also be excluded. However, neighborhoods as far north as 20th Street, including Phoenix and Glen Myra, may be considered on the "Eastside".

Early history
The area that eventually became Jacksonville's Eastside was first settled in 1817, during Florida's second Spanish period, when the Spanish government issued a land grant to Daniel Hogans. The tract changed hands several times prior to 1850, when it was subdivided, and sawmills were established at the riverbank. After the American Civil War, the land became residential developments.

East Jacksonville developed shortly after the Civil War. Oakland, a working class, African-American community, was platted in 1969.

Fairfield grew up around the same time as East Jacksonville. In 1868, Jacob S. Parker of New York purchased a 150-acre riverfront plot, and lobbied for a road leading through his land from Downtown Jacksonville to the nearby community of Panama. The East End Shell Road Co. built the road, the second large-scale paved road project ever seen in Jacksonville, in 1873. George M. Smith of New Hampshire purchased a lot that year, erecting a successful hotel called the Roseland House at Clarkson Street. Parker established the first State Fair at a grounds to the north; as such the area became known as Fairfield. The fairgrounds also hosted a racetrack, despite horse racing being banned until 1884. The town incorporated in 1882, with Parker being elected its first mayor. Horseracing and a prize fight between James J. Corbett and Charles Mitchell was hosted on January 25, 1894.

The original East Jacksonville development was a small residential community located east of Jacksonville along the St. Johns River, which grew up shortly after the Civil War. Two other communities grew up around this time; Oakland and Fairfield. Oakland, located just north of East Jacksonville, was a working-class, largely African-American community. Fairfield was located farther east, along the northward bend of the river. Its attraction was as the location of Jacksonville's first Fairgrounds, which was the source of its name. These included a racetrack, the forerunner to Jacksonville's sports venues. Fairfield was incorporated as a city; in 1887 all three communities were among those annexed by Jacksonville. They soon grew into one continuous neighborhood.

The Eastside has remained the center of Jacksonville's annual Fair and sports complexes, as well as a center of industry in the city. As with other inner city neighborhoods across the United States it underwent precipitous decline since the mid-20th century. For many years, the commercial district on Florida Avenue (now A. Philip Randolph Boulevard) was a major neighborhood center. However, many of its shops were destroyed in a 1969 riot that started when a white cigarette salesman shot a black man he said was robbing his truck. Neither the Avenue nor the neighborhood has recovered, though in more recent times, the Eastside has been the center of urban renewal projects.