Jacob Brock and shipyards workers. Brock established the shipyard that eventually became Merrill-Stevens and the Jacksonville Shipyards during the 1850s. | Florida Memory
Looking southeast across the St. Johns River from Bishop Kenny High School lies what was once the Merrill-Stevens Company shipyards. The property may not look like a shipyard by any means, but it once housed a bustling shipbuilding operation established during World War I. The Merrill-Stevens Company, forerunner to downtown’s Jacksonville Shipyards, had a southside shipyard location at the current site of Bishop Kenny High School. The Assumption Catholic School and Assumption Catholic Church, near Bishop Kenny, were also part of the Merrill-Stevens southside shipyard.
Fort San Nicholas was a Spanish military post established in 1784 on the present site of Bishop Kenny’s athletic fields. The Spanish military post was used for patrolling that area along the St. Johns River. It was temporarily destroyed in 1796 in a raid by John H. McIntosh of Georgia. In its final years of operation, Fort San Nicholas operated primarily to prevent smuggling. Francis S. Hudnall later acquired the land and established a farm known as the Hudnall Farm.
Merrill-Stevens, traces its beginning to the 1850s with a shipyard established by Jacob Brock. In 1877 Alonzo Stevens acquired Brock’s shipbuilding business after his death. In 1885, James Eugene and Alexander Merrill joined Stevens to form Merrill-Stevens Engineering Company. The Merrill-Stevens shipbuilding business and shipyard was located on East Bay Street near the Maxwell House Coffee plant. The business name was changed to Merrill-Stevens Company in 1906 and the Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corporation during World War I. Eventually renamed Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock & Repair Company, the company sold the downtown shipyard and relocated to Miami in the 1950s. Now named RMK Merrill-Stevens, the company operates two shipyards in Miami. In 1963, its original Jacksonville shipyard became Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc. or JSI. JSI permanently closed in 1992, laying off 200 workers. Today only its wharfs remain and serve as a home to the USS Orleck Naval Museum.
The Jacksonville Shipyards. | Florida Memory
Across the St. Johns River was Merrill-Steven’s southside shipbuilding yard where its World War I ships were built near South Jacksonville. The Shipping Act of 1916 created the United States Shipping Board to promote a United States merchant marine and regulate American commercial shipping. Congress enacted the Shipping Act to reform the American maritime industry and to better respond to the shipping shortages due to World War I. The Shipping Board enacted its Emergency Fleet Corporation as part of the United States Shipping Board on April 16, 1917 to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant ships for the war demands. The Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corporation was one of many American shipbuilding companies to take part in the war demands from the Shipping Board.
On December 19, 1917, the Emergency Fleet Corporation entered into a financial agreement with the Merrill-Stevens Shipbuilding Corporation to meet the American war demands of World War I. Out of this financial agreement Merrill-Stevens built several ships at its second shipyard at the site of the Hudnall Farm, which was southeast across the river from their main yard on Bay Street. The second shipyard was located on the present-day site of Assumption Catholic School, Assumption Catholic Church, and Bishop Kenny High School. The Merrill-Stevens southside shipyard was 80 acres with ten buildings, including its administration building, generator building, pattern building, and offices. The Merrill-Stevens southside shipyard opened on May 17, 1918 ready to build ships for the American effort in World War I. Unfortunately, there was a housing shortage for the workers at the new Merrill-Stevens shipyard. That housing shortage led to the Shipping Board’s construction of a $750,000 housing project called Fletcher Park in present-day San Marco. By 1918 Merrill-Stevens employed 3,839 people, making it the largest employer in Jacksonville at the time.
Assumption Catholic School was formerly the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. | University of North Florida
The Merrill-Stevens Administration Building at the southside shipyard was designed by Jacksonville architect Henry J. Klutho. Klutho designed many new buildings in the Prairie School architecture style during Jacksonville’s reconstruction following the Great Fire of 1901. Klutho’s final Prairie-style building was the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. It is the only remnant of the World War I shipyard that still stands today and is now the Assumption Catholic School. The Merrill-Stevens southside shipyard built over 9 ships during World War I. Some sources say over 20 ships were built during World War I but that figure may include ships built immediately after the war. The ships were initially small freighters of composite material but were later made of steel. The ships built during World War I were the Red Cloud, Apalachee, Botsford, and Kanabec. Immediately after the war, several more ships were built, including the Wekika, Ashbee, Jacksonville, Chickamauga, and Pinellas.
Hull 100 (Apalachee) was delivered in September 1918. Apalachee was a composite ship, which was a wooden vessel with structural steel incorporated to stiffen the hull, and was a 5750-ton cargo ship. | Florida Memory
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression brought renewed interest in the Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. The (WPA) was formed in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal economic program and employed millions of Americans to work on public works projects such as building bridges, parks, and schools. One such program of the WPA that assisted unemployed women was the sewing room projects. The sewing room projects gave unemployed women the opportunity to earn between $35-$50 a month by sewing articles of clothing for men, women, and children. Between 1939 and 1941 a WPA sewing room used the former Merrill-Stevens Administration Building. It was one of the largest sewing rooms in Florida during the New Deal.
Assumption Catholic Church was established in 1923 along with a school and rectory on Gary Street in present-day San Marco. The school opened with 110 students. In 1948 Assumption Catholic Church, led by Father James Cloonan, acquired land from the former Merrill-Stevens southside shipyard, including the administration building. Klutho’s original brick façade was stuccoed over and some of his original ornamentation was lost. The original canopy over the front entrance was left intact. The new Assumption Catholic School opened in September 1949 with 317 students. The elementary school operated under the leadership of the Sisters of St. Dominic from Adrian, Michigan. In 1954 Assumption Catholic Church built its present-day church adjacent to Assumption Catholic School.
Central Catholic High School was established in 1952 on the 55-acre property behind Assumption Catholic School and in 1953 was rededicated as Bishop Kenny High School. In 1983 the shipyard’s dry dock basins were filled in to create the school’s athletic fields.
Today, the land that Bishop Kenny occupies is unrecognizable where it once had a World War I shipyard. Assumption Catholic School has the last remnants of that World War I shipyard in the renovated Klutho’s Merrill-Stevens Administrative Building, thereby preserving that architectural legacy of the bygone shipyard for future generations.
Additional Historic Photographs and Aerials
July 28, 1918 article from the Tampa Tribune. Senator Duncan U. Fletcher was a leading figure in shipbuilding for the war effort in Florida.
From a write-up on Fort Saint Nicholas by Arlington resident, F. W. Bruce ca. 1924: ‘In 1917, the Merrill Stevens company began construction of what was designated the ‘South Side Shipyard.’ which was afterwards absorbed by the U. S. Shipping Board. For the construction of the plant, the writer was appointed Chief, and occupied that position until after construction of ships for WW I began.’ | Florida Memory
Hull 99 (Red Cloud) was delivered in August 1918. Red Cloud was a composite ship, which was a wooden vessel with structural steel incorporated to stiffen the hull, and was a 5750-ton cargo ship. | Florida Memory
Hull 100 (Apalachee) was delivered in September 1918. Apalachee was a composite ship, which was a wooden vessel with structural steel incorporated to stiffen the hull, and was a 5750-ton cargo ship. | Florida Memory
The Chickamauga was launched in 1920 at the Merrill-Stevens southside yard. The Chickamauga was later renamed to the Malchace and was sunk by a German U-boat on April 9, 1942 off Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
An aerial view of Assumption Catholic School and the former Merrill-Stevens property in 1952. The Merrill-Stevens basins still remain with several boats present. Assumption Catholic School almost looks like the capital letter E in the lower center of the photograph on Atlantic Boulevard. | University of Florida
Aerial view of Assumption Catholic School, Assumption Catholic Church, and Bishop Kenny High School in 1970. The Merrill-Stevens basins still remain. | University of Florida
An aerial view of Assumption Catholic School, Assumption Catholic Church, and Bishop Kenny High School in 2024. The Merrill-Stevens boat slips have been filled in and the tennis courts and baseball field were built over them.| Google Earth
Editorial by Andrew R. Nicholas. Follow Andrew on Twitter at arnicholas