Before urban renewal: LaVilla's Davis Street

What does urban renewal look like? What did LaVilla, Jacksonville's oldest suburb, dating back to 1866 look like? Ask no more. We recently received access to pre-demolition photographs of properties being prepared to be razed as a part of the River City Renaissance plan. Since there are so many to share, we'll occasionally show one street at a time. Today, our focus is North Davis Street.

921-947 Davis Street was located at the northeast corner of Davis Street and Kings Road.

Dating back to the 19th century, these photos are representative of one of urban Jacksonville’s oldest commercial districts. These photographs were taken between 1993 and 1995. The captions identify the occupants for each building in 1950. Information was obtained from ancestry.com, census records and public directories.

The Southern Piston Ring Company was located at 139 North Davis Street in 1950. Located at the northeast corner of Davis and Houston Streets, the Southern Piston Ring Company specialized in automobile repair.

217-223 North Davis Street - Nita’s Place Southwest corner of Davis Street and West Monroe Street.

The Bellview Hotel at 708.5 Davis Street was owned by Mrs. Beulah Williams in 1950. Alex Men’s Shop, Moses K Soud grocery and Bottom Dollar Stores were ground floor retail tenants in the building situated at the northwest corner of Davis Street and West Beaver Street.

Located at the northeast corner of Davis and West Union Streets, 801-807 North Davis Street was occupied by Harry Heyman general merchandise in 1950.