Despite being developed with restrictions limiting commercial use, commercial districts still sprouted up simultaneously with Avondale and the surrounding subdivisions.
The First Block
Edgewood Avenue’s First Block grew up along the railroad corridor separating Murray Hill from Avondale’s northern border. The terminus spot for the Jacksonville Traction Company’s Murray Hill car line, commercial development of the First Block pre-dates the development of the original Avondale subdivision.
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Residences along Avondale’s former Demere Street were demolished for the construction of Roosevelt Boulevard and the Roosevelt Expressway. The Roosevelt Expressway is a partial freeway between Blanding Boulevard and Interstate 10 that was designed as a spur to the interstate. Designed to facilitate movement between westside suburbs and downtown, its route ultimately did less damage than the proposed River Oaks Freeway, which would have destroyed Avondale.
Shoppes of Avondale
The commercial district known as the Shoppes of Avondale grew up three blocks south of the Oretga car line along St. Johns Avenue. A few of the district’s oldest commercial buildings were constructed during the period of Avondale’s development. In addition, in later decades, a small section of the original Avondale plat was redeveloped into commercial near the intersection of St. Johns Avenue and Talbot Avenue.
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Park & Dancy
A small commercial district also grew up along Park Street, just south of the original Avondale plat between Ingleside Avenue and Dancy Street. It’s earliest buildings date back to the mid-1920s.
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