Downtown Jacksonville Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

• 
  USS Orleck

  From 1945 to 1982 the destroyer docked beside you, USS Orleck, served with the United States Navy as a Gearing-class ship. Launched into a long life at sea, she was sold in October 1982 to Turkey and renamed Yücetepe (D 345).

• 
  Treaty Oak

  Roughly 250 years of growth twist through the Treaty Oak, an octopus-like southern live oak, Quercus virginiana, rooted in Treaty Oak Park on Downtown Jacksonville's Southbank. You can feel the weight of its roughly 250 years as you gaze up: a trunk over 25 feet in circumference, rising to about 70 feet, with a crown that spreads over 145 feet.

• 
  Main Street Bridge

  Notice the Main Street Bridge crossing the St. Johns River, officially the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge and known locally as the Blue Bridge. It was the second bridge built across the river and carries four lanes of traffic, signed as US 1/US 90 (SR 5/SR 10).

• 
  Museum of Science and History

  Picture MOSH around you, the Museum of Science & History in Jacksonville, Florida. This private, non-profit institution on the Southbank Riverwalk was the city's most visited museum, specializing in science and local history.

• 
  Wells Fargo Center

  Rising 535 feet at the southeast corner of Bay and Laura streets, 1 Independent Square is the skyscraper towering over you. Rising 535 feet (163 meters), it is the city’s second-tallest building, a landmark you can’t miss as you move northwest of the Main Street Bridge and north of the St. Johns River.

All 34 stops

• Main Street Bridge (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Notice the Main Street Bridge crossing the St. Johns River, officially the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge and known locally as the Blue Bridge.

• Bank of America Tower (Downtown Jacksonville)

  At 617 feet, the Bank of America Tower rises at the northwest corner of Bay and Laura streets, the tallest building in Jacksonville.

• Barnett National Bank Building (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Adams and Laura streets meet at the southwest corner where the Barnett, originally the Barnett National Bank Building, rises over downtown Jacksonville.

• Wells Fargo Center (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Rising 535 feet at the southeast corner of Bay and Laura streets, 1 Independent Square is the skyscraper towering over you.

• Laura Street (Northbank)

  Laura Street, the north-south spine under your feet, takes its name from the daughter of Jacksonville’s founder, Isaiah D. Hart.

• Laura Street Trio (Laura Street)

  Three historic buildings on and near Laura Street make up the Laura Street Trio, the cluster you see in downtown Jacksonville.

• St. James Building (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Jacksonville City Hall now occupies the St. James Building, the historic structure at 117 West Duval Street.

• Florida Theatre (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Since 1927 the Florida Theatre has served downtown Jacksonville as a performing arts venue.

• James Weldon Johnson Park Station (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Hogan Street, between Duval and Monroe, carries the Skyway monorail to James Weldon Johnson Park station, the stop beside you and the park it is…

• Jessie Ball duPont Center (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Your stop is the Jessie Ball duPont Center, a nonprofit complex in downtown Jacksonville that once housed the city’s main public library.

• St. John's Cathedral (Downtown Jacksonville)

  St. John's Cathedral, the Episcopal cathedral in front of you, has roots deep in Jacksonville's history.

• First Baptist Church of Jacksonville (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Several square blocks of Downtown Jacksonville belong to First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, the Baptist megachurch affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

• The Carling (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Here at 31 West Adams Street rises The Carling, formerly known as the Carling Hotel and Hotel Roosevelt.

• Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts (Riverbank)

  Along the Riverbank sits the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts, originally the Civic Auditorium and previously known as the Times-Union Center for the Performing…

• Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (Hemming Plaza (James Weldon Johnson Park))

  MOCA Jacksonville, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, fills the historic Western Union Telegraph Building on Hemming Plaza, now James Weldon Johnson Park, right in…

• Museum of Science and History (Southbank)

  Picture MOSH around you, the Museum of Science & History in Jacksonville, Florida.

• Friendship Fountain (Southbank)

  Friendship Fountain, a large fountain in Jacksonville, Florida, plays at your feet.

• Riverplace Tower (Southbank)

  On the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, the Riverplace Tower rises 28 floors above you.

• USS Orleck (Shipyards West)

  From 1945 to 1982 the destroyer docked beside you, USS Orleck, served with the United States Navy as a Gearing-class ship.

• Riverfront Plaza (Northbank)

  Riverfront Plaza is taking shape here, a public area and green space under construction on the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville.

• Acosta Bridge (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Six lanes of SR 13 cross the St. Johns River on the St. Elmo W. Acosta Bridge, the fixed-span carrying you over the water in…

• Ritz Theatre (LaVilla)

  LaVilla's Ritz Theatre, an African‑American oriented theatre in this Jacksonville neighborhood, is the theatre you have come to see.

• Morocco Temple (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Right here at 219 Newnan Street you face the Morocco Temple, the Shriners International building.

• Brewster Hospital (LaVilla)

  Brewster Hospital's historic building now sits at 843 West Monroe Street in LaVilla, moved across the street in 2005 from its longtime address at 915…

• Henry J. Klutho Park (Springfield)

  Between downtown Jacksonville and the historic neighborhood of Springfield, Henry J. Klutho Park spreads 18.34 acres of public green at your feet.

• Merrill House Museum (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Welcome to 229 Lafayette Street, where you find the Merrill House, a Victorian home now operated by the Jacksonville Historical Society as a museum.

• Treaty Oak (Southbank)

  Roughly 250 years of growth twist through the Treaty Oak, an octopus-like southern live oak, Quercus virginiana, rooted in Treaty Oak Park on Downtown Jacksonville's…

• Riverside Park (Riverside)

  Riverside Park, the second-oldest park in the city, spreads its 11.4 acres through the heart of Riverside, one of the most historic neighborhoods near downtown…

• Memorial Park (Riverside)

  Bounded by Riverside Avenue on the north bank of the St. Johns River, Memorial Park holds 5.85 acres of the Riverside neighborhood.

• Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Ninah Cummer's bequest became the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, your stop in Jacksonville.

• Riverside Arts Market (Riverside)

  Every Saturday the Riverside Arts Market fills the space beneath the Fuller Warren Bridge alongside the St. Johns River.

• Villa Alexandria (San Marco)

  Back in the 1870s Villa Alexandria rose here in San Marco as a winter plantation house.

• South Jacksonville Grammar School (San Marco)

  Known today as The Lofts San Marco, the South Jacksonville Grammar School at 1450 Flagler Avenue is a historical school building in Jacksonville, Florida.

• Plaza Hotel (Downtown Jacksonville)

  Meet the Plaza Hotel, a historic hotel here in Jacksonville, Florida.

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