POPULATION: 1,065,219 (urban), 1,394,624 (metro) | TIME ZONE: Eastern | CLIMATE: Humid subtropical (mild winters, hot and humid summers, summer thunderstorms with brief, torrential downpours)
Hard to believe that a town once named Cow Ford has grown to become Florida’s most populous city, and the nation’s largest by area. Named in honor of General Andrew Jackson in 1821, the city has long been an important naval port. After the Civil War, Jacksonville became a Gilded Age resort for wealthy northerners. That position was eventually usurped by Henry Flagler’s extension of the Florida East coast Railroad south into Miami. Jacksonville has the dubious distinction of having the largest ever urban fire in the U.S., leaving 10,000 residents homeless in a period of eight hours. In the 1910s, Jacksonville caught the cinematic eye of New York filmmakers who enjoyed the warm weather, subtropical locations and cheap labor. Jacksonville became known as the "Winter Film Capital of the World."
NICKNAME(S)
Jax
The River City
J-ville
The Bold
New City of the South
MOTTO(S)
Where Florida Begins
RANDOM SONG ABOUT THE CITY
Jacksonville,by Josh Taylor
PRO SPORTS TEAMS
Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)
Jacksonville Suns (AA)
Jacksonville Sharks (AFL)
Jacksonville Axemen (USA Rugby League)
Jacksonville Giants (ABA)
Jacksonville Armada FC (NASL)
ALSO KNOWN FOR...
The Creature From The Black Lagoon
The first official performance of the blues, April 16, 1910.
One of the country’s longest-running and largest blues festivals
The second-biggest jazz festival in the U.S.
The birthplace of southern rock
Being Hollywood before there was a Hollywood
The biggest city by area in the continental U.S.
Elvis Presley’s first indoor concert
The nation’s largest 15K race
The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (the Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs football grudge match)
The oldest outdoor skate park in the U.S. and possibly the world
The largest urban public parks system in the U.S.
Only ever being directly hit by one hurricane
Lee Ann Womack, Tim McGraw, Pat Boone, Stephen Crane, Tug McGraw, Tim McGraw, Ray Charles, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Allman Brothers, Henry Flagler, Alfred duPont, Louis Wolfson, Elizabeth Edwards, Arthur Blind Blake, tons and tons of athletes and musicians