Myrtle Avenue
Myrtle Avenue is the major thoroughfare through Durkeeville, providing the neighborhood with a direct connection to LaVilla, Brooklyn and Moncrief. Originally called Durkee Avenue and home to the Myrtle Avenue Car Line of the Colored Man’s Railroad (streetcar), Myrtle continues to operate as mixed use corridor featuring residential, commercial, recreational, industrial, cultural and religious land uses. Due to zoning policies that don’t respect the historic context of the corridor, recent commercial infill development tends to be autocentric in nature by replacing buildings along the sidewalk with surface parking lots. This type of activity would not be permitted in nearby neighborhoods such as Springfield and Riverside/Avondale.
Located at 1319 North Myrtle Avenue, the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church was completed in 1948.
Looking south down Myrtle Avenue. Myrtle Avenue is wider than most streets in Durkeeville because it once had a streetcar line running on it.
The Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church at 2503 North Myrtle Avenue was completed in 1957.
2422 North Myrtle Avenue was completed in 1957.
African-American contractor James Edward Hutchins designed and built this structure for the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church at 2225 Myrtle Avenue in 1956.
1919 Myrtle Avenue was built in 1939.
1447 and 1441 Myrtle Avenue were both built in 1919.
Looking north on Myrtle Avenue at Grothe Street.
1472 Myrtle Avenue was completed in 1924. The smaller houses were completed in 1909 (1476 Myrtle) and 1914 (1480 Myrtle).
Skinner Florist operates in a mixed use structure completed in 1934 at 1519 North Myrtle Avenue.
Durkeeville & Co was built in 1945 at 1801 North Myrtle Avenue.
Looking west towards Myrtle Avenue on West 8th Street.
Completed in 1920, 2022 Myrtle Avenue was later converted to include street level retail with apartments on the second floor.
Durkee Field
Long before the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville or Wolfson Park, J.P. Small Memorial Stadium was the home of Jacksonville’s professional baseball community. Amazingly, it’s still standing today. Once called Durkee Field and dating back to 1912, this ballpark once served as the home of the Negro League’s Jacksonville Red Caps. Some of the first teams to play here include the Jacksonville Tars and the Jacksonville Athletics, a team on which James Weldon Johnson was a member of. Baseball legends who played here over the years include Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Henry Aaron. Aaron also lived in Durkeeville during his brief stay in Jacksonville.
Durkeeville South of 8th Street