# Timeline of Jacksonville, Florida

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

## Prior to 20th century

* Prior to 1564 - One early 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.
* 1564 - French Fort Caroline established by René Goulaine de Laudonnière.
* 1565 - Spanish forces take Fort Caroline.
* 1822
** Settlement named "Jacksonville" to honor Andrew Jackson.
** Town grid laid out.
** Jacksonville becomes seat of newly formed Duval County.
* 1832
** Town incorporated.
** William J. Mills becomes mayor.
* 1838 - Bethel Baptist Church established.
* 1845 - Florida becomes part of the United States.
* 1846 - October 12: Gale.
* 1857 - City Park created.
* 1858 - Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad begins operating.
* 1862 - Town occupied by Union forces.
* 1869 - St. James Hotel built.
* 1871 - Furchgott, Benedict & Co. dry goods store in business.
* 1872 - Cookman Institute established.
* 1873 - Florida Circulating Library active.
* 1875 - Windsor Hotel built.
* 1876
** Duval High School established.
** Union Congregational Church built.
* 1877 - Board of Health established.
* 1878 - Library and Literary Association formed.
* 1881 - Florida Daily Times begins publication.
* 1882
** Synagogue dedicated.
** Florida Baptist Academy established.
* 1884 - Board of Trade organized.
* 1885 - Park Opera House in business.
* 1886 - Boylan Industrial Home and school established.
* 1887
** Yellow fever epidemic.
** The Metropolis newspaper begins publication.
** St. Andrew's Episcopal Church built.
* 1888 - Subtropical Exposition held.
* 1890 - Population: 17,201.
* 1892 - Edward Waters College active.
* 1893 - Streetcars began operating.
* 1897 - Woman's Club founded.
* 1900 -
** "Lift Every Voice and Sing" song first performed.
** Population: 28,429.

## 20th century
### 1900s-1950s

* 1901
** May 3: Great Fire of 1901.
** Brewster Hospital established.
** Continental Hotel opens.
* 1903
** Mason Park opens.
** Florida Automobile Association organized.
* 1904
** Lincoln Park opens.
** First Baptist Church built.
* 1905
** Jacksonville Free Public Library opens.
** Protestant Union Revival held.
* 1907
** Manhattan Beach opens.
** Dixieland Amusement Park opens in South Jacksonville.
** South Jacksonville chartered as a city.
* 1908 - Filmmaker Kalem Studios active.
* 1909 - YMCA building constructed.
* 1910
** Atlantic Boulevard laid out.
** Population: 57,699.
* 1912
** St. James Building constructed.
** City Rotary Club formed.
* 1914 - Jacksonville Zoological Park established.
* 1917
** National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Jacksonville chapter established.
** John W. Martin becomes mayor.
* 1920 – Population: 91,558.
* 1921 - St. Johns River Bridge opens.
* 1923 - John T. Alsop becomes mayor.
* 1925
** Negro Welfare League organized.
** WJAX radio begins broadcasting.
* 1926 - Carling Hotel opens.
* 1927 - Florida Theatre and 5 Points Theatre built.
* 1928 - Gator Bowl Stadium built.
* 1929 - Jacksonville Historical Society founded.
* 1930 – Population: 129,549.
* 1934
** Jacksonville Junior College established.
** WMBR radio begins broadcasting.
* 1938
** WJHP radio begins broadcasting.
** Theatre Jacksonville built.
* 1940
** U.S. military Naval Air Station Jacksonville commissioned.
** Population: 173,065.
* 1946 - Annual Gator Bowl college football game begins.
* 1947
** Jacksonville Urban League formed.
** Hanna Park created.
* 1949
** WJXT (television) begins broadcasting.
** W. Haydon Burns becomes mayor.
* 1950 - Population: 204,517.
* 1953 - Mathews Bridge opens.
* 1955 - Jacksonville Expressway Authority established.
* 1957 - WFGA-TV (television) begins broadcasting.

### 1960s-1990s

* 1960
** August: "Ax Handle Saturday" racial unrest.
** Population: 201,030.
* 1962 - Civic Auditorium opens.
* 1963 - December, Hotel Roosevelt fire
* 1964 - September 10, Hurricane Dora occurs.
* 1967
** Hart Bridge opens.
** Mary Singleton and Sallye B. Mathis became the first female African Americans elected to the City Council.
* 1968
** Consolidation of city and Duval County governments.
** Hans Tanzler becomes mayor.
* 1970 - Population: 528,865.
* 1973 - Florida Municipal Home Rule Powers Act ratified.
* 1979 - Jake Godbold becomes mayor.
* 1980
** Foreign trade zone established.
** Population: 540,920.
* 1984 - Jacksonville Bulls football team formed.
* 1989 - The Jacksonville Skyway begins operating
* 1990 - Population: 635,230.
* 1993 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district.
* 1995
** Jacksonville Jaguars football team formed.
** Jacksonville Municipal Stadium opens.
** John Delaney becomes mayor.
* 1998 - City website online (approximate date).
* 2000
** "Better Jacksonville Plan" for urban growth approved.
** Population: 735,617.

## 21st century

* 2001 - Ander Crenshaw becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 4th congressional district.
* 2003 - May 13: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2003 held; John Peyton wins.
* 2010 - Population: 821,784.
* 2011 - March 22: Jacksonville mayoral election, 2011 held; Alvin Brown wins. He was the city's first elected African-American mayor.
* 2013 - Corrine Brown becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 3rd congressional district again.
* 2015 - Lenny Curry becomes mayor.
* 2022 - Jacksonville celebrates its bicentennial.
* 2023
** May 16 - 2023 Jacksonville mayoral election; Donna Deegan wins, becomes the city's first female mayor.
** August 26 - Mass shooting at a Jacksonville Dollar General store.