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, we'll start with West Monroe Street.

Dating back to the 19th century, these photos are representative of a street once lined with two story homes occupied by the Black middle class and early Orthodox Jewish portion of the neighborhood. These photographs were taken between 1993 and 1995. The captions identify the homeowner for each resident in 1924. Resident information was obtained from ancestry.com, census records and public directories.

1924 U.S., City Directory

Located near Jefferson Street, James Yawn resided at 700 West Monroe Street. Married to Annie Yawn, James was employed as an inspector at the J. T. Company. Yawn was born in Georgia around 1886.

Mrs Emma B. Clawson lived at 704 West Monroe Street. She was the widow of Henning Clawson.

James and Lula Kivelos lived at 706 West Monroe Street. James Kivelos was born in Calamata,Greece and had previously lived in the Greek district of Railroad Row at 938 West Bay Street. He was employed at a nearby restaurant as a waiter. Lula was a waitress. Kivelos immigrated to the United States in 1906.

David and Fannie Moscovitz lived at 715 West Monroe Street. Moscovitz was born in Romania in 1888. A dry goods store owner, Moscovitz was a past president of the Jacksonville Jewish Center.

Jacob T. and Nona Wilensky resided at 744 West Monroe Street. Wilensky owned a jewelry store located in LaVilla at 517 West Bay Street. Jacob was born in England in 1870. Nona was born in Russia in 1880.

800 West Monroe Street was the home of Anna Ticht. Anna was the widow of Felix Ticht. Ticht came to the United States from Austria.

F. C. Moore lived at 801 West Monroe. Walter and Alice Slaughter resided next door at 803 West Monroe Street. Walter was employed as a painter.

Charles and Mary Pappas lived at 809 West Monroe Street. Born in Greece in 1896, Charles was a manager at the Mayport Fish & Oyster Company. George Betros lived at 811 West Monroe Street. Betros operated a Railroad Row confectionary at 1101 West Forsyth Street. Betros arrived in the United States from Pereus, Greece in 1910.

834 West Monroe Street was the home of Charles and Della Cline. Charles was employed as a machinist at a nearby rail yard.

Reverend John E. and Annie Hartsfield lived at 835 West Monroe Street. Hartsfield was the pastor of Wesley Memorial Church on Stockton Street in nearby North Riverside.