Exploring the campus of Edward Waters College
Anchoring Mid-Westside, Edward Waters College was founded in 1866 to educate the former enslaved and is the oldest private institution of higher education in the state of Florida. Located a mile west of Downtown Jacksonville, it is also the oldest historically Black college in Florida.
1659 West 5TH Street was built in 1942. William and Lavinia Hall were the first occupants of this 916 square foot residence.
The Morris-Cone Residential Complex was built in 1982. Morris-Cone A serves as a male dormitory while Morris Cone B serves as a female dormitory. The 22,580 square foot facility has a total of 86 residential rooms at the intersection of Kings Road and Tyler Street.
The Edward L. “Ted” Baker Honors Village is a college residential complex that is an adaptive reuse of an apartment complex originally built in 1959 on Dot Street.
The 50,000 square-foot John Hurst Adams – Jimmy R. Jenkins Community Sports and Music Center seats 1,800 persons and contains classrooms, music and fine arts suites, concession stands, locker rooms and offices. Completed in 2006, the facility was constructed at a cost of $9 million and was the first major construction project on the campus in more than 40 years.
James Weldon Johnson Junior High School was completed in 1953 at 1840 West 9th Street. After desegregation to former neighborhood school was revamped into the James Weldon Johnson Academic and Career Training Center. In 2017, the former school was acquired from the Duval County School Board. Adjacent to the campus of EWC, the university will use the former school as a home for the Edward Waters College Department of Teacher Education and Urban Studies program.
A new $4.3 million football stadium for Edward Waters College is under development on the former campus of James Weldon Johnson middle school.
In the heart of a community where health problems and access to recreational space are prevalent, the 3,000 seat Nat Glover Community Field and Stadium will include a walking track for students and the surrounding community and will also be used for little league football games.
The Campus Towers Apartments at 1864 were built in 1968.
Located between the John Hurst Adams – Jimmy R. Jenkins Community Sports and Music Center and historic epicenter of the Edward Waters College campus, this Popeye’s Chicken restaurant building at 1833 Kings Road was completed in 1979.
A ghost sign is all that remains of the original Jenkin’s Quality Barbecue restaurant location at 1791 Kings Road.
This building housing several storefronts at the intersection of Fairfax and West 6th Streets was completed in 1946. Located a block south of Kings Road, businesses occupying space here in 1950 included the Peter Garnder fish market, Chicago Inn Barbershop, Curry’s Self Serve Laundry, Mose Williams billiards and Mattie Hayes beauty shop. Today, the vacant structure is owned by Christians United Outreach Ministries Inc.
This 10,064 square foot commercial building at 1907 Kings Road (right) was completed in 1957. Tenants in 1958 included Lilly’s Drug Store and a physician’s office for Archie T. Frazier. Other businesses on this block, just west of Spires Avenue in 1958 included the Quality BBQ restaurant, White Swan Cleaners, Burris Billiard Parlor and Cherry’s Bar & Cocktail Lounge.
1623 Kings Road was completed in 1923. Businesses located here in 1950 include Morris McCalvin’s meat market, Washington’s Cleaning & Dyeing Plant, Fred Linsey grocery and Wilbur Jenkins shoe repair.
1601 Kings Road (left) was occupied by West Side Market in 1950. A & P Food Stores and Dorsey’s Sundries were tenants at 1595 Kings Road (center) in 1950. Edward Waters College’s Morris-Cone Residential Complex (right) is located across the street from these commercial storefronts.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com