Before & After: Jacksonville

In 1950, Jacksonville was a stagnant 30 square mile city with 204,000 residents. Today, the city is the most populous in Florida and the 12th-largest in the United States with 903,889 inhabitants. Here is a before and after photographic journey through Jacksonville visualizing its evolution over the past seven decades.

In 1943, the City of Atlantic Beach had a population of 468 residents.

In 2018, the City of Atlantic Beach had increased to an estimated 13,831 residents.

Lackawanna’s Seaboard Air Line Shops and Terminals in 1952. Employing as many as 1,000 workers in 1909, the Seaboard Air Line Shops and Terminals once included diesel locomotive shops, steam locomotive shops and a 165’ turntable.

The Seaboard Air Line Shops and Terminal ceased in 1985 and what remains of the adjacent West Jacksonville Yard is primarily used for receiving rock trains serving a Conrad Yelvington terminal at Honeymoon Yard in the Rail Yard District.

The community of Yukon in 1952. Following the end of the civil war, a community called “Blackpoint Settlement” grew, eventually becoming the town of Yukon with the development of Camp Joseph E. Johnston during World War I. For many years, it was connected to the Jacksonville with a streetcar line that ran through Ortega, Avondale and Riverside.

What’s left of Yukon today. Situated between Roosevelt Boulevard and the Ortega River, during its heyday, Yukon had paved streets, sidewalks, a downtown business district, its own railroad depot and a 300 unit subdivision called Dewey Park. Yukon’s days would come to an end when it was designated as a flight and safety hazard and closed by the Navy in July 1963.

Imeson Field in 1952. For over 40 years, Jacksonville Municipal Airport Imeson Field was the center of the region’s commercial aviation scene. Opening in 1927 with a dedication that included Charles Lindbergh, it served as the headquarters for National Airlines. National was the first airline to introduce domestic jet service in the United States.

Imeson International Industrial Park in 2019. With larger jet aircraft coming on line and limited room to expand, Imeson was abandoned and replaced with the new Jacksonville International Airport during the late 1960s. In 1970, the former 1,500-acre airport was acquired and redeveloped into the Imeson International Industrial Park.

In 1943, the intersection of Philips Highway and Belfort Road was in an area known for pastures and turpentine woods.

The intersection of Philips Highway and Belfort Road became the western terminus of State Road (S.R.) 202, also known as J. Turner Butler Boulevard, Butler Boulevard, or simply JTB. The first section of JTB opened in 1979 with the final section completed in 1997. The area straddling JTB in the vicinity is now known as Southpoint.