Memorial Park

Designed by the Olmstead Brothers, sons of noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, Memorial Park is a popular 5.85-acre public park situated along the St. Johns River.

Dedicated on Christmas Day 1924, the park was developed in honor of the 1,200 Floridians who died during World War I.

The park features the bronze sculpture Winged Victory, created by the celebrated Charles Adrian Pillars. Pillars also created Florida’s two statues residing in National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The sixteen-story Park Lane was Riverside’s first high-rise building and caused quite a stir when it was built in 1926. It towered over Memorial Park and was completely out of scale with the stately residences around it.

For many years the Park Lane was Jacksonville’s third tallest building. It was originally built as co-op apartments, a novel idea in those days, which the developer Francis Mason brought back from a trip to New York. The Park Lane was the forerunner of Florida’s high-rise condominiums. It was also the first tall building in Jacksonville to use “setback” construction, permitting the apartments in the upper stories to have open terraces and sun parlors.