Area effected by the Jacksonville fire of 1901

Riverview, Jacksonville

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Summary     

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Riverview is a neighborhood in Jacksonville, which was founded in 1914 on the North side and is a staple of traditional Jacksonville. Riverview was founded during the time of the Jim Crow laws and therefore served as a white neighborhood. This was due to its close proximity to downtown Jacksonville. Riverview is home to much of old Jacksonville as it was not effected by the Jacksonville fire of 1901, which destroyed much of the city.

Geography and Population

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           Riverview is located on the North side of Jacksonville, in the zip code 32208 (tract 011000) [3]. It is a peninsula that is bordered by Osceola Forest and Harborview. The body of water which goes around Riverview is the Trout River and Ribault River. There are two bridges which come into the neighborhood both part of Lem Turner Rd. Riverview was originally designed for pedestrian usage around the main road of Lem Turner Rd as a result the shops closely line the street [2].  

 
The Trout River

           Riverview consists of ~4k total people with the density of ~2.62k per square mile. Riverview consists of 22.4% white, 0.2% Hispanic, 69.3% Black and 8.1% Mixed. The neighborhood has one most dense populations of Jamaican descendants in the United States of America [3]. Riverview's housing market is considerably slow and many of the homes are very dated; many of the homes where built in the early 20th century. As Jacksonville expands on its Atlantic side Riverview has seen little growth and change over the past few decades. Riverview has no high income jobs stationed in the neighborhood and is contains no large corporate hubs within it [1], this makes it hard for such a small neighborhood to undergo any substantial changes.

History

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           “Four decades before Arlington became known as Jacksonville's rapidly growing suburb, there was Riverview” [2]. Riverview was established in the early 20th century and is a traditional suburb of the Southeast. Riverview was originally established for whites and used “The Million Dollar Suburb” phrase to advertise the rapidly growing suburb. Due to the close proximity to downtown Jacksonville (5 miles) the neighborhood was prized by the wealthy as getting to work would be very easy with limited car access of the tie period which Riverview was founded. Riverview is one the the few neighborhoods in Jacksonville that still has much of the original Jacksonville buildings and history woven into modern society.

Features

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Riverview Park

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Riverview is best known in the 21st century as having Riverview park. Riverview Park is ~10 acres and is located on 9620 East Water Street, Jacksonville, FL 32208 (longitude -81 .6884918212891, latitude 30.4143676757813) (Jax Parks). Riverview’s founder, D. E. H. Armstrong “created the 25-acre Riverview Tropical Gardens, which became a showplace in the 1930’s & 40’s, attracting over 15,000 visitors in 1936” [4]. Later this 25-acre plot of land would become what is known today as Riverview Park. The park is a staple part of Riverview as it provides the only green space to the neighborhood.

Henry F. Kite Elementary

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Riverview is home to Henry F. Kite Elementary School. "Henry F. Kite Elementary School was completed in 1929 and originally known as the Riverview Elementary School" [2]. Henry F. Kite is part of the Duval County school district, enrollment (as of March 2018) is 244 and the elementary school covers the standard grades of PK-05. A majority of the school is made up of children of African American decent and Henry F. Kite has a 1:1 ratio of male to female. The elementary school is located on the main street of Riverview with the address of 9430 Lem Turner Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32208.

Citations

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[1] “Fund, J.B.P.(2013). Jacksonville Block by Block: Our Homes, Our Neighborhoods, Our Opportunities. Jacksonville, Florida: The Reinvestment Fund."

[2] “Urban Neighborhoods: Riverview. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2018, from https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-mar-urban-neighborhoods-riverview/page/1”

[3] " Overview of Riverview, Jacksonville, Florida (Neighborhood). (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Florida/Jacksonville/ Riverview/Overview."

[4] “Riverview Park. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://www.coj.net/departments/parks-and-recreation/recreation-and-community-programming/parks/riverview-park”