One-Place Study: Jacksonville, Florida

 Before Hollywood, California, was a gleam in any film producer's eye, Jacksonville was the queen city of film.  Beginning in 1908, film companies from the north, mostly headquartered in New York, sought a better climate, literally, for making movies.  First to arrive was Kalem Studios in 1908, and by 1914, they had been joined by Fox, Metro, Edison, Gaumont, and others.  Jacksonville had many advantages for the filmmakers: it was a major railhead, connecting with nearly every major city in the United States at the time.  It had a variety of locations available, including wild lands, city streets, the St. Johns River, industrial areas, seaport facilities, and miles of beaches.  Labor there was not as expensive as in the north.  While winter in the north was plagued by grey days and awful weather, Jacksonville was sunny and perfect for filmmaking.   The many touring troupes that visited the city could be enticed into acting in films during the...

 I have just joined the Society for One-Place Studies.  The organization is based in Great Britain, but is a place for one-place studies of anywhere in the world.   My one-place study is of the city I grew up in.  I lived there from 1954 to 1980, when my husband wanted a more rural life, and we moved down into the next county south of Jacksonville. Jacksonville started as a village with the pragmatic name of Cowford (also seen as Cow Ford) on the banks of the St. Johns River.  The location was at a shallow part of the river that allowed for the passage of cattle from one side of the river to the other.  In 1822, people figured that Cowford was not the name that would grow the city into the metropolis it is today, so the city was formally founded as Jacksonville, named for Andrew Jackson.  These days, when old Andy has fallen into disfavor for some of his policies while President of the United States, the name of the city is not likely to be change...