Jacksonville

Sister cities

• Chimbote
• Gqeberha
• Yingkou
• Bahía Blanca
• Suzhou
• Nantes
• Curitiba
• Murmansk

History

The area of the modern city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. On Black Hammock Island in the national Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, a University of North Florida team discovered some of the oldest remnants of pottery in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE. For most of the period from 1565 to 1821—aside from a brief British interlude (1763–1783)—the region formed part of Spanish Florida, administered from St. Augustine. In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical era, the region was also inhabited by the Mocama, a coastal subgroup of the Timucua people. At the time of European contact, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River. One early French map shows a village called Ossachite at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for that area. In 1562, French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault charted the St. Johns River, calling it the River of May because that was the month of his discovery. Ribault erected a stone column at his landing site near the river's mouth, claiming the newly discovered land for France. In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established one of the first European settlements on the St. Johns River, Fort Caroline, near the main village of the Saturiwa. Philip II of Spain ordered Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to protect the interests of Spain by attacking the French at Fort Caroline. On September 20, 1565, a Spanish force from the nearby Spanish settlement of St. Augustine attacked Fort Caroline, and killed nearly all the French soldiers defending it. The Spanish renamed the fort as San Mateo and, following the expulsion of the French, St. Augustine…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , making Jacksonville the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States. Of this, 86.66% () is land and 13.34% () is water. Jacksonville completely surrounds the town of Baldwin. Nassau County lies to the north, Baker County lies to the west, and Clay and St. Johns counties lie to the south. Jacksonville has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean with the Jacksonville Beaches. The city developed along both sides of the St. Johns River. The Trout River, a major tributary of the St. Johns River, is entirely within Jacksonville. Soil composition is primarily sand and clay rather than limestone, so few sinkholes develop; however, deep, large diameter sinkholes do occur. The architecture of Jacksonville varies in style. Few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901. The city is home to one of the largest collections of Prairie School style buildings outside the Midwest. Following the Great Fire of 1901, Henry John Klutho came to influence generations of local designers with his works by both the Chicago School, championed by Louis Sullivan, and the Prairie School of architecture, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. Jacksonville is also home to a notable collection of Mid-Century modern architecture. Local architects Robert C. Broward, Taylor Hardwick, and William Morgan adapted a range of design principles, including International style, Brutalism, Futurism and Organicism, all applied with an American interpretation generally referred to today as Mid-century modern design. and Kemp, Bunch & Jackson (KBJ) have also contributed a number of important works to the city's modern architectural movement. Jacksonville's early predominant position as a regional center of business…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,756
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  14,851
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,284
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  12,648
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,976
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,514
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  11,435
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,010

Largest nearby schools

• SANDALWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 2,771 students · 23.3:1 ratio
• DUVAL VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION ACADEMY
  Other · JACKSONVILLE · 1,877 students · 32.4:1 ratio
• ENGLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 1,741 students · 22:1 ratio
• WESTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 1,583 students · 22.3:1 ratio
• RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 1,567 students · 22.4:1 ratio
• EDWARD H. WHITE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 1,538 students · 20.8:1 ratio
• JEAN RIBAULT HIGH SCHOOL
  High · JACKSONVILLE · 1,385 students · 22.7:1 ratio
• DUVAL CHARTER AT BAYMEADOWS
  Elementary · JACKSONVILLE · 1,368 students · 20.1:1 ratio