Hemming Plaza
| Hemming Park | |
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Hemming Park
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| Type | Municipal (Parks & Recreation Department) |
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Coordinates | 30°19′45″N 81°39′33″W / 30.32917°N 81.65917°W |
| Area | 1.54 acres (6,200 m2) |
| Created | 1857 |
| Operated by | City of Jacksonville |
| Visitors | 1 million |
| Status | Open all year |
Hemming Park is a 1.54-acre (6,200 m2) public park, located in the heart of the government center in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Originally a village green, it was the first and is the oldest park in the city.
The area was established as a public square in 1857 by Isaiah Hart, founder of Jacksonville. After Hart's death in 1861 and the end of the Civil War, the Hart family deeded the land to the city for $10. It was first known as “City Park”, then “St. James Park” after the grand St. James Hotel was constructed across the street in 1869. The following year, another major hotel was built across from the park.
The area was renamed Hemming Park in 1899 in honor of Civil War veteran Charles C. Hemming, after he installed a 62-foot (19 m)-tall Confederate monument in the park in 1898. Hemming was born in Jacksonville. He later moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado and became a banker, making a fortune. The memorial is the oldest in the city and was the tallest at the time.
The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed most of the wooden structures in Jacksonville and many others, too. The St. James Hotel burned to the ground and the owner did not have the cash to rebuild. In 1910, Jacob and Morris Cohen, who owned a local dry goods company, engaged 34-year-old architect, Henry John Klutho to fast track design and manage the construction of a four-story building to house their store. The name "St. James Building" stuck to the property and the building.
In past years, the park contained bandstands, fountains, comfort stations and buildings for the Tourist & Convention Bureau. Presidents, political candidates and visiting dignitaries have greeted citizens at this central site. During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon both gave speeches at Hemming Park a few hours apart on October 18. President Lyndon Johnson delivered a speech in Hemming Park on October 26, 1964.
Because of its high visibility and patronage, the park and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s in the African-American effort to end racial segregation in public facilities. At the time, the city's population was about 45% black. Rutledge Pearson, a local high school teacher, and the NAACP organized many students to participate in sit-ins. Rodney Hurst was the president at age 16 of the NAACP youth council and years later, said the students were determined to carry out the protests to gain rights of service in stores that gladly accepted .
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Wikipedia