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= La Villa = The historic neighborhood of La Villa is one that is famous for being a facilitator to the financial progress of African-Americans well before Jim Crow Laws came to an end. Despite having its setbacks from segregation and natural disasters like the Great Fire of 1901, La Villa's historical buildings and culture facilitated its growth for aspiring entrepreneurs and ambitious engineers.

Summary
Annexed by the city of Jacksonville in the year 1887 with just 3000 residents, La Villa is famous for being one of the first neighborhoods to not only have a substantial Black population approaching nearly 70 percent, but to have a large middle class population that specialized in engineering, construction, leisure activities such as singing and acting which later defined the careers of various Black actors form Florida and beyond. This stepping point for actors, construction workers, and entrepreneurs allowed for La Villa to serve as a staging point for both the Civil Rights movement in the South, but also served as a place that improved both the lives and the careers of Black actors looking to gain a foothold in the film industry. With all these technological improvements, La Villa was able to increase its population tenfold, as the population skyrocketed from 3000 residents to nearly over 30 thousand. However, this developing neighborhood was not without its scandals as many rumors have surfaced over the years regarding how the mayors of early 20th Century La Villa handled the increased levels of prostitution occurring in the red-light district of Jacksonville. But regardless of the scandals surrounding the political offices of La Villa at the time, La Villa was a central hub for the advancement for many African Americans. (5)

History
Otherwise known as the "Harlem of the South" La Villa was relatively unknown before its annexation into the city of Jacksonville in the year 1887. This historical timing allowed for the advancement of the railroad business within La Villa and greater Jacksonville, as the first ever northern bound railroad was constructed just six years ago. These advancements in both population integration and construction allowed for famous actors and activists such as James Weldon Johnson to truly advance their careers with the opportunities presented to them within La Villa. With the construction of railroads, a substantial portion of African-Americans came seeking employment, allowing for La Villa to become the largest city in Florida, with a population of nearly thirty thousand residents, seventeen thousand of which were African Americans working as engineers, entrepreneurs, singers, actors, and blue collar workers. (3)

However, the city's growth was considerably stunted by the Great Fire of 1901. This fire, that started in a mattress factory called Beaver and Davis, had destroyed over 146 city blocks in a matter of days. Strangely enough, this fire actually spurred a new wave of industrial progress, as Black workers cooperated with the likes of Henry John Klutho in order to construct buildings with newer and more innovative styles. To further add to this, in 1902 a group of Black and White businessmen came together to form the North Jacksonville Road company, which not only employed Black motormen in their business, but also allowed for La Villa's economy to recover from after the fire. To add to this, in the same year, Jacksonville and New Orleans became cultural exchange partners, allowing for the Black people of Jacksonville to create their own theaters which they could attend at their leisure. But this population growth would not last forever, as work from larger states such as New York and Pennsylvania complemented with the harsh militancy and Jim Crow Laws of the South caused 16 to 17 thousand Black people to leave Jacksonville.

However, things did get better for Black singers in mid to late 20's, as the Ritz theater recruited all-Black casts into its movies, allowing for famous Black actors such as Ray Charles and America's first female Black aviator, Bessie Coleman, to serve as an advocate for the Civil rights movement from the South upward. Aside from the Civil Rights movement gaining momentum in the turn of the decade, scandal also began to surround the political office of Jacksonville, as Mayor Bowden gave his support for the prostitutes of Jacksonville, regarding them as the safety valve of society. But regardless of whatever scandal surrounded them, Civil Rights activists continued to make strides in reaching equality for African-Americans. One such example of this can be seen with Adrian Kenneth Knight, who became the first Black Radio announcer of the South in the early 40's. Although this was considerable progress for the Civil Rights movement, it still did not mean that African-Americans had equal rights to their White counterparts. To achieve equality to their White counterparts, Civil Rights activists organized sit-ins at lunch counters in Hemingway park, which would often times result in violence, the most notable events included Ax Handle Saturday, in which White mobs attacked Civil Rights demonstrators with ax handles. But all of the efforts of the Civil Rights demonstrators would result in a positive effect for African-Americans, as Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1965. (1)

But although African Americans had the freedom of choosing where they could attend theaters and eat dinner, the Civil Rights Act caused a serious dent in local businesses, as African Americans now had the option of going to any business they wanted to. This, complemented with the construction of 1-95, further dented the local businesses of La Villa and Jacksonville as a whole. To further add to the issues of the residents of La Villa, in 1980, the crack epidemic began all around Florida, causing crime rates to spike in poorer neighborhoods and lead to the increased incarceration of African-Americans throughout La Villa.

However, the residency and local government of La Villa made reforms in their residency, as nearly 400 families were relocated from the Bridget home complex that had a significant rate in crime, and in the early 90's Mayor Ed Austin raised funds for the restoration and reparation of La Villa's historic sites that included the famous Ritz theater.

Features
Over the course of La Villa's construction and development, there have been a number of construction projects in response to the growing population rate and improvements in technology. For instance, La Villa's first railroad, The Florida Atlantic and Gulf Central, was constructed in 1857 in order to connect La Villa to Lake City. The railroad business also brought along various businesses and markets to La Villa in the early 1870's, which included Cigar companies, Lumber and textile companies such as Washington Lumber Dealership, and even a refrigeration company known as Refrigerator Ice Works. As the years went on, White and Black businessmen began to slowly set their differences aside and form small business organizations in which both White and Black workers would be present. One such example of this can be seen with the North Jacksonville Street Company, that employed both White and Black personnel to their businesses. {2}

Aside from growing businesses from a growing African-American middle class, medical institutions for African-Americans were established in the turn of the 20th Century. The most famous of which was Brewster Hospital, Jacksonville's first ever Black hospital.(2)

In the turn of the 20th Century, theater and artistic expression began to emerge for the African American community, as new theaters began to emerge in response to the increased militancy of the Jim Crow Laws. One early example of this can be seen with the Strand Theater, which in its heyday, was comparable to the Regal theater of Chicago. Efforts to educate the populace were also underway with the construction of Stanton High School in the year of 1917.

But what truly set the stage for business expansion within La Villa was the construction of the Jacksonville Terminal in 1917, which became the largest train station south of D.C at the time. This large scale project was also complemented by the construction of the famous Ritz Theater in 1929 which has had upkeep and renewal on an annual basis. To add to this, in the 1940's, railroad traffic peaked for the Jacksonville Terminal, as it had over 35 thousand trains and over 10 million people using them annually. However, this would all eventually come to a grinding halt as the construction of 1-95 made for more convenient travel, but resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs for people who had worked in the Terminal for decades. (4)