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Best historic district in Florida?


Rock2uf

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When you say historic district, what do you mean?  Something that is touristy, with historic markers and such, or something that has actual history. 

Saint augustine has a historic district but it is so touristy.  I really do not need to see the Nations oldest t shirt shop.  Jacksonville has history all around town with a few large areas of unique history - springfield, la villa before the bomb went off, Mayport (the town not the base), Downtown.  But there isn't really anything connecting them all together, that I would consider walkable.

What about Ybor City? or Duval Street in Key West?  Those are pretty historic.

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No offense to anyone, but I think Ybor is horrible. I like the cigar history and what not, but Ybor is in an awful part of town. In addition, I don't find it that nice of an area.

I agree with your view on St. Auggie. It's way too touristy. It takes away from the historic feel of the area.

I have never been to Duval St. in Key West, but I've heard nothing but good things. How old are the buildings down there. Any before 1900? Guess I should freshen up on my Key West history.

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Praha: I freely admit that I have never been to Thornton Park in Orlando and I am sure it is a nice area. But, it doesnt seem likely that the area could be as large as Jacksonville's historic districts b/c the cities' relative sizes in the early 1900s. I also agree this is all subjective based on your architectural tastes. I happen to find two story buildings more impressive than bungalows, but I do like bungalows too.

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Winter Park and Thorton Park areas in Orlando, as well as Hyde Park in Tampa are very nice inner ring hoods. However, they are small, in comparison to Riverside and lack the diverse architectural styles and large number of urban parks and older commercial corridors like Five Points, Park & King and St. Johns Avenue. Neverthless, one thing I like about Thorton Park is its relationship with downtown. It's a beautiful walk between the two. Winter Park's Park Avenue is also pretty nice.

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I would have to go with Winter Park for Orlando. It just has a lot of character, which I like. It's realy neat if you dig back in there east of Park and in between Howell Branch & University on the north & south side. I like Thornton Park, too, but it is fairly small.

Riverside-Avondale looks incredible. I may just have to take a ride up there this weekend to check it out! :thumbsup:

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I won't say it's the "best", but I like the rustic feel of Micanopy, in Alachua County. Most people pass through and don't even know it's there.

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Also, McIntosh in Marion county is a very nice historic city.

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Winter Park and Thorton Park areas in Orlando, as well as Hyde Park in Tampa are very nice inner ring hoods.  However, they are small, in comparison to Riverside and lack the diverse architectural styles and large number of urban parks and older commercial corridors like Five Points, Park & King and St. Johns Avenue.  Neverthless, one thing I like about Thorton Park is its relationship with downtown.  It's a beautiful walk between the two.  Winter Park's Park Avenue is also pretty nice.

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Anymore pictures and information on Riverside and its architecture?

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An interesting story about the "Marble House" shown above: the husband and wife who had it built in Avondale disagreed on the cladding - the H wanted marble but the W thought it too ostentatious. So, the H completed the house in brick and sent the W and kids to Europe on vacation. When they returned, the house had been transformed into the Marble House. It is one of my favorite homes in Jacksonville.

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Well................as I predicted early in this thread........the city of Jax contains the best historic district in FL. Riverside is gorgeous and I need to go check it out in person.

thelakelander, if you have more pics, keep em coming. Thanks.

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Most of what I've read about Ybor is true. It's in a rundown part of town that needs more help. There are other areas in Tampa that have a lot of historic structures, for example old cigar factories in West Tampa(Trivia-WTampa used to be it's own city) Also Seminole Heights just north of Downtown. All of these areas are working to be more inviting. For now just go to Hyde Park for a nice stroll.

Central Lakeland is worth mentioning. (Downtown, Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern College area)

Did anyone mention Downtown Cocoa, Fl (not the beach)?

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I would have to put South Beach at the top of my list. Cliche or not it is utterly unique, is walkable, entertaining, and you can go there alone or with family or with your significant other and find something to do. The architecture is outstanding and the feel is entirely unique. Yes, it's been tarnished somewhat by new construction, but that doesn't detract sufficiently to knock it out of first place on my list.

I'm a huge fan of Riverside-Avondale (I grew up in Orange Park) and if I ever return to Jax long-term I hope to find a little place there--if there are any left. But it's not the only district on the First Coast with mentioning; I think Fernandina Beach has already been mentioned, and Mayport, but the district in Green Cove Springs, though run down and seedy, has great potential. Among towns of similar size GCS has the potential to be one of the nicest districts in the state--but for now, it's unrealized potential.

I really like Hyde Park in Tampa. Riverside has a lot of Klutho-designed Prairie-ish houses, but the Hyde Park area actually seems to have them in greater density, and the whole area is awash in canopy roads and beautifully maintained homes. Some of the most outstanding homes in the state are here (some day I'll do up a coffee-table book on historic Tampa homes, since that seems to be sadly lacking at present).

Three places remain unmentioned. First is Pensacola. I'm fishing, here, because I can't really think that I remember anything about Pensacola's historic district but I'm sure there must be one of some size. Am I right? Anybody been there?

Second is Palatka. If you haven't been through Palatka in a while you owe the town a visit. They've been hard up for many a year, but in the last half-decade or so the downtown area has freshened up, and the historic residential neighborhood east of 17 looks much better cared for than it has in past years. If this trend continues Palatka might be a really nice place in a few more years.

And last is DeLand. I can't believe nobody's mentioned it yet; DeLand has a gorgeous old historic downtown area and the surrounding residential neighborhood is attractive and very well cared for. The town happens to be just an hour south of Palatka on 17 so why not visit both on the same trip? (Green Cove Springs is only another hour north of Palatka...)

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Yes Deland has a very pretty, bustling downtown (thanks to Stetson of course). Mount Dora may actually be Florida's best kept secret. Its a treasure.

I also agree about Hyde Park, and I especially like Bayshore Blvd with the balistrade along the Bay. It is one part of Tampa where there are always people out enjoying themselves.

My top three:

1) South Beach -- between the architecture and the urbanity, it beats out all others

2) Key West -- also unique and well preserved but not with being too historical/touristy

3) St. Augustine -- beautiful, historic, good food at Harry's :)

after these, I would say that Tampa's Hyde Park, JAX's Riverside, and Miami's Coral Gables tie, they each were booming 1920s streetcar suburbs of their larger respective city. Winter Park sort of falls into this category for Orlando, though it was never a streetcar suburb.

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DeLand has a great downtown area...It's surprisingly vibrant.

It's not anywhere near as picturesque as Mt. Dora, but I think it has more of a "working downtown" feel, as opposed to being a tourist destination.

Go to www.mainstreetdeland.com for some photo goodness.

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Not to detract from this Ybor argument (I've never been there, so I have no opinion), but I wanted to add some more about Jacksonville's Riverside district.

Riverside is no South Beach, that's for sure. However, it is the largest historic district in Florida, and it maintains a true neighborhood dynamic ... no tourists, just real people living in beautiful buildings.

Here are some quick google shots ...

Look how massive Riverside is (outlined in red)! That blue outline is Jax's other large historic district, Springfield.

Here's a close-up shot, to convey the character of the neighborhood. (Also notice the Navy fighter jet caught in the shot)

Captain, dont forget about San Marco on the Southbank.

I have to say, of any Florida city, Jacksonville has the most impressive historic districts hands down.

Between the remaining first skyscrapers downtown, Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, San Marco, For Caroline, and what's left of Lavilla and Brooklyn, there is no city in Florida that could compete on quantity and/or quality of historic structures/neighborhoods.

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Captain, dont forget about San Marco on the Southbank.

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San Marco actually isn't an historic district. The neighborhood preservation society has tried to set one up a couple times in the past, but property owners have strongly voted it down. I guess there's not much support for becoming an historic district if the neighborhood is already ritzy?

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