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Jacksonville, Florida

Camp Life in Florida; A Handbook for Sportsmen and Settlers.

1876

Jacksonville, the capital of Duval county, was originally settled about 1828. For the first decade the growth was slow aggregating only 800 persons, exclusive of the refugees driven in by the Seminole war. During the next ten years the accession was very gradual, after which, owing to the establishment of numerous lumbermills in the town and vicinity, the population increased more rapidly, which increase was maintained until the outbreak of the civil war. During the war the place was almost depopulated and destroyed by fire. Previous to this time the business portion the city had been twice destroyed by fire and rebuilt.

Since the close of the war Jacksonville has seen her best days. Her site has been rebuilt and more than rebuilt. With the late attention that has been paid to the state the situation of the city has been entirely in its favor and it receives annually large numbers of excursionists and tourists, as well as prospective settlers. A large proportion of the present population of Jacksonville is composed of people of various nationalities and from the North. The cause of the late prosperity is to be found in the fact of its being a port of entry on the most important river of the state, that its railroad facilities are good, and that there is a good prospect of an improvement of its harbor, allowing vessels of a larger class to enter. Its relative importance in a state so sparsely settled as Florida, is very great. It is, and from its favorable position will probably long continue to be, the commercial metropolis of the state, the lumber and cigar industries taking the lead.

Source:
Excerpt from "Report on the Social Statistics of Cities: Part 2, The Southern and Western States." Published by the Department of the Interior Census Office, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887.

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