Duval County, Florida

310 West Church Street Apartments American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station Arpen, Henry C., House Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Locomotive No. 1504 Atlantic National Bank Annex Avondale Historic District Bethel Baptist Institutional Church Brewster Hospital Broward, Napoleon Bonaparte, House Buckman and Ulmer Building Carling Hotel Casa Marina Hotel Catherine Street Fire Station Centennial Hall-Edward Waters College Church of the Immaculate Conception Cummer Gardens Downtown Jacksonville Historic District Durkee Gardens Historic District Durkee, Joseph H., Athletic Field Dyal-Upchurch Building El Modelo Block Elks Club Building Epping Forest Evergreen Cemetery Florida Baptist Building Florida Theater Fort Caroline National Memorial Groover-Stewart Drug Company Building House at 3325 Via de la Reiva House at 3335 Via de la Reina House at 3500 Via de la Reina House at 3609 Via de la Reina House at 3685 Via de la Reina House at 3703 Via de la Reina House at 3764 Ponce de Leon Avenue House at 7144 Madrid Avenue House at 7207 Ventura Avenue House at 7217 Ventura Avenue House at 7227 San Pedro House at 7245 San Jose Boulevard House at 7246 San Carlos House at 7246 St. Augustine Road House at 7249 San Pedro House at 7288 San Jose Boulevard House at 7306 St. Augustine Road House at 7317 San Jose Boulevard House at 7330 Ventura Avenue House at 7356 San Jose Boulevard House at 7400 San Jose Boulevard Hutchinson-Suddath Building Jacksonville Jewish Center Jacksonville Terminal Complex Kingsley Plantation Klutho, Henry John, House Knight, W.A., Building Lane-Towers House Lewis Mausoleum Little Theatre Lynch Building Mandarin Store and Post Office Marabanong Masonic Temple Memorial Cemetery Memorial Park Morocco Temple Mount Zion AME Church Mt. Calvary Baptist Church Norman Film Manufacturing Company Norman Film Studios Old Jacksonville Free Public Library Old Ortega Historic District Old St. Luke's Hospital Palm Spring Cemetery Plaza Hotel Porter, Thomas V., House Red Bank Plantation Ribault Inn Club Riverside Baptist Church Riverside Historic District Sammis, John S., House San Jose Administration Building San Jose Country Club San Jose Estates Gatehouse San Jose Hotel Snyder Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South Atlantic Investment Corporation Building South Jacksonville Grammar School Springfield Historic District St. Andrew's Episcopal Church St. George Episcopal Church St. James Building St. John's Lighthouse St. Johns Light Stanton, Edwin M., School Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve Title & Trust Company of Florida Building Union Terminal Company Warehouse Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville Village Store Woman's Club of Jacksonville Yellow Bluff Fort Young Men's Hebrew Association

1876 Barn 1914 United Confederate Veterans Reunion 1960 Civil Rights Demonstration A Very Comfortable Habitation A. Philip Randolph Heritage Park Abraham Lincoln Lewis Mausoleum Address by President Lincoln African Identity All Those That Fought All Veterans American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps and Station American Revolutionary War Battle of Thomas Creek Andersonville Southern Magnolia Andrew Jackson Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley Antietam Sycamore Apalachicola Harbor Live Oak Appomattox Court House Tulip Poplar Archaeology Arlington - A Unique Community Arlington Grammar School No. 46 Arlington National Cemetery Tulip Poplar Battery Park Live Oak Battle of Selma Live Oak Beaches Museum Chapel Birth of the Allman Brothers Band Booker T. Washington Sycamore Brompton White Oak Camp Capt. Mooney Cemetery Camp Captain Mooney Cemetery Camp Site of the Forty-Ninth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry Camp Springfield (Cuba Libre) Capt. Bruce Nystrom Catherine Street Fire Station Cdr. Jim Hall Cdr. Peter Schoeffel Centennial Hall Edward Waters College Chapel of the High-Speed Pass Chatham House Catalpa Choices Church of Our Savior Coastal Weather Combat Team Camp Atlantic Beach Confederate Torpedo Boat David Delius House Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles Doolittle's 1922 Record Flight Douglas Anderson School Durkeeville Duval County Duval County Vietnam Memorial and Veterans Eternal Flame Duval County's First Court Farmstead First Settlers At Ruby, Florida Florida Pharmacy Association Florida's First African-American Insurance Company Fort de la Caroline Fort Fisher Live Oak Fort George Island Fort George Island Fort Hatch Frederick Douglass White Oak Frederick W. Bruce Freedom is Not Free French Huguenots in North America Gettysburg Address Honeylocust Gettysburg American Sycamore Girl Scouts Beaches Little House Greenleaf & Crosby Bldg. Greenleaf / Jacobs Clock Harriet B. Stowe Live Oak Harriet Beecher Stowe Home Harriet Beecher Stowe White Ash Historic Arlington Town Center Ferry Landing Historic Cosmo Community Historic Floral Bluff Historic Gilmore Community Historic King's Road British East Florida Historic Manhattan Beach, Florida Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark Historic Old Mayport Cemetery Historic Strawberry Plantation Honor and Remembrance J.P. Small Memorial Park Jacksonville And The Movie Industry Jacksonville National Cemetery Jacksonville Public Library Jacksonville Young Mens Christian Association Jacksonville's 1901 Fire James Edwin Craig James Hall (1760–1837) James Weldon Johnson Jean Ribaut Jefferson Davis Live Oak John Fitzgerald Kennedy John Milton Bryan Simpson John Rosamond Johnson Joseph E. Lee Kennesaw Mountain White Oak Kingsley Plantation Kingsley Plantation Kingsley Plantation King’s Road Meets Apalache Trail LCdr. Denver Key LCdr. Fred Wright LCdr. James Sullivan LCdr. John Davis LCdr. Lee Cole LCDR. M. Scott Speicher LCdr. Michael Hoff LCdr. Phil Craig LCdr. Randolph Ford Life Under Siege Lincoln’s Tomb White Oak Looking Back Losco Winery Lt. Carl Wieland Lt. Dale Raebel Lt. Robert J. Dwyer Lt. Steve Musselman Manassas Mimosa Mandarin Store and Post Office Marines and Navy FMF Corpsmen Mayport Depot Mid-Westside Jacksonville Millers Creek Murrary Hill Navy Seabees New France Norman Silent Film Studios Oesterreicher-McCormick Homestead Old Brewster Hospital Old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Home Old Jacksonville Free Public Library Old Philips Congregational Church Operation Desert Shield 1990/Operation Desert Storm 1991 Oriental Gardens Ortega's Most Famous Resident Ossachite Pablo Beach FEC Foreman's House Pablo Beach Post Office Pearl Harbor Philips ~ Craig Swamp Cemetery Pilot Town/Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Plantation Crops Plantation House Plantation Slavery Porter Wood Burning Locomotive Ribault Club Inn Ribault Monument Riverside Avondale Historic District Robert E. Lee Southern Magnolia Robert E. Lee Sweetgum Robert E. Lee Sycamore Robert E. Lee Tulip Popular San Jose Country Club San Jose Estates Administrative Building San Marco Sawmill Sawpit Bluff Plantation Second Missionary Baptist Church of LaVilla Seminary Ridge White Oak Seminole War Blockhouse Site Shiloh Silver Maple Sinking of the Maple Leaf Site of Cow Ford Site of the Mission of San Juan del Puerto Skirmish at Cedar Creek Sky Soldiers Slave Cabins Slave Cabins Slave Cabins Slave Cabins Slave Cabins Slave Cabins Slave Trade / La Traite d'Esclaves Slaves Cabins Soldiers of the American Revolution Associated with Jacksonville’s History South Jacksonville City Hall Spanish Pond SS Gulfamerica SS Gulfamerica St. George Episcopal Church St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church St. Joseph’s Mission Schoolhouse for African American Children Staking a Claim Steam Locomotive No.7 Stonewall Jackson Prayer Oak Task System The Beginning The Building of la Caroline The Carillon The Carling Hotel The Continental Hotel Site The Crossroads The Florida Medical Assn The Harvey Farm The Huguenot Memorial Site The Island of Ortega The Jacksonville, Mayport and Pablo Railroad The Line of Intrenchments The Major William Webb / Walter Jones Farmhouse The Mandarin Boardwalk The Maple Leaf The Monument to Women of the Southern Confederacy The Mungen House The Plaza Building The River of May The St. Johns The St. Johns River The Tension Of War The Third Union Invasion The Ultimate Sacrifice Timucuan Friends Timucuan Preserve Treaty Live Oak U.S. Merchant Marine Ulysses S. Grant Sycamore United States Railroad Administration Locomotive Van Zant House Vietnam POW*MIA Memorial Vietnam War Memorial Villa Alexandria Waterways World War II Veterans Memorial Yellow Bluff Fort "Mother" Midway A.M.E. Church "The Great Endurance Run" “Spirit of Cecil Field” “The Spirit of Cecil Field”
Duval County, located in northeast Florida, has a rich and complex history that dates back thousands of years. The area was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Timucua, who thrived on hunting, fishing, and agriculture. The arrival of European explorers began in the 16th century, with French and Spanish expeditions exploring the region. However, it was the Spanish who established a permanent settlement in 1565, with the founding of St. Augustine, making it the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States.

During the 18th century, control of the area shifted between the Spanish and British several times due to conflicts such as the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. After the United States gained independence, Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, and Duval County was created in 1822. The county was named in honor of William Pope Duval, the first territorial governor of Florida.

In the 19th century, Duval County experienced significant growth with the establishment of Jacksonville as its county seat. The city grew into an important port and commercial center due to its advantageous location along the St. Johns River and its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. It became a hub for transportation and trade, attracting steamboat companies, railroads, and later, the Navy during the Civil War.

The 20th century brought continued development and change to Duval County. Jacksonville experienced both prosperity and challenges, including the devastating Great Fire of 1901, which destroyed much of the city's downtown area. In the following decades, the county underwent urbanization, population growth, and the expansion of industries such as tourism, finance, and manufacturing. Today, Duval County remains a vibrant and diverse region, blending its historical significance with modern advancements and opportunities.
Brief timeline of the history of Duval County, Florida:

  • 1822 - Duval County is created as one of the original counties of Florida.
  • 1824 - Jacksonville is established as the county seat.
  • 1862 - During the American Civil War, Jacksonville is occupied by Union forces.
  • 1888 - The Great Fire of 1888 destroys much of Jacksonville.
  • 1901 - Another devastating fire hits Jacksonville, leading to significant urban redevelopment.
  • 1968 - Consolidation occurs, merging the city of Jacksonville with Duval County.
  • 1991 - The Jacksonville Jaguars are granted an NFL franchise.
  • 2005 - Hurricane Katrina causes significant damage in Duval County.
  • 2014 - The One Spark festival, a crowdfunding event for innovators, is first held in Jacksonville.

This timeline provides a glimpse into the major events and milestones that have shaped the history of Duval County, Florida.

Audiobooks about the history of Florida.