The Riverside and Avondale neighborhoods are two of Jacksonville’s premier historic districts, featuring over 2,000 historically-significant structures within their combined space, which stretches roughly from Roosevelt Boulevard to I-10.

The neighborhoods’ origins can be traced back to the 1800s, when the vast majority of their land was used for agricultural purposes. Following the Civil War, much of that land was gradually sold off for residential development.

Houses first started popping up in the 1870s in Riverside. Streets were laid out, several of which were named for previous landowners such as Francis Richard and John Forbes. But development didn’t truly take off until the area was annexed by the city of Jacksonville in the 1880s – which also brought about the expansion of the city’s streetcar line into Riverside.

Over in what would later become Avondale, a group of investors formed the Edgewood Company and attempted to develop the area with plans of creating an independent town named Edgewood. Several houses and commercial buildings were built in the late 1800s as part of this development, but the company’s grand plans ultimately fell apart with few of the Edgewood-era structures still remaining today.

Meanwhile, in Riverside, development was booming. By 1895, the neighborhood had over 2,000 residents and its first park, Riverside Park, was developed on land once owned by Forbes.

The turn of the century brought about even more progress in Riverside, with development concentrated along streetcar lines and the St. Johns River. Large estates were constructed along the river for the Cummer family, which would later become home to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens.

 coastal.com