Ortega, Jacksonville, Florida
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Old Ortega Historic District
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| Location | Jacksonville, Florida, US |
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| Coordinates | 30°16′15.5″N 81°42′19.5″W / 30.270972°N 81.705417°WCoordinates: 30°16′15.5″N 81°42′19.5″W / 30.270972°N 81.705417°W |
| Area | 4500 acres (18 km²) |
| NRHP reference # | 04000682 |
| Added to NRHP | July 14, 2004 |
Ortega is a neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida, US. It is located south of downtown Jacksonville on a peninsula off the western bank of the St. Johns River. It is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Jacksonville, and is the location of many historic homes and buildings.
The peninsula containing Ortega is bounded by the St. Johns and Ortega Rivers, and is bisected by Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 17); the area to the east of Roosevelt is known as Old Ortega, while the area to the west is known as Ortega Forest. On July 14, 2004 a section of Ortega to the east of 17 and north of Verona Boulevard was designated as the Old Ortega Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places.
Ortega got its start in 1763, shortly after Spain ceded Florida to England. By 1780, Colonel Daniel McGirtt moved into the Jones Plantation and served with rebel troops in Georgia against the British. After some skirmishes, he later changed sides and joined the British, plundering the rebel troops and stealing Georgian cattle. Soon he formed a band of outlaws and terrorized the British, as well. The British governor, eventually had him court martialed and jailed at Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine, but he escaped. There are a road and a park in the neighborhood still named after him to this day.
In 1902, J. Pierpont Morgan helped a local Florida senator finance what is modern day Ortega. By 1908, the Ortega Company had completed a wooden bridge across the Ortega River, connecting to Avondale. A clubhouse was built and was designed by famed architect Henry Bacon of Lincoln Memorial. Bacon also built a house in the neighborhood, of which neither the original clubhouse or his house remain. The final construction boom occurred during the 1920s and Ortega has remained a neighborhood filled with wealthy businessmen and old families.
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