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LaVilla Museum

1999 establishments in FloridaAfrican-American museums in FloridaHistory museums in FloridaHistory of Jacksonville, FloridaLaVilla, Jacksonville
Museums established in 1999Museums in Jacksonville, Florida

The LaVilla Museum is a museum of African American history and culture located in the 1929 Ritz Theater in Jacksonville, Florida. The museum opened in 1999.The museum documents the culture and history of people of African descent (most slaves, some free, and not all Americans) in northeast Florida prior to that territory's entry as a U.S. state in 1845, as well as LaVilla neighborhood of downtown Jacksonville (which was once a large and thriving African American community). LaVilla was home to so many poets, artists, musicians, authors, and playwrights that it was known as "the Harlem of the South". The Ritz Theatre is one of the few remaining buildings in the LaVilla neighborhood. Although most of the 600-seat theatre was razed in the 1990s, the northwest corner is original to the building.The highlight of the museum tour are two animatronic representations of James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, LaVilla natives who composed the famous song, "Lift Every Voice and Sing". Rooms in the building evoke African American life throughout the 20th century by recreating a typical home living room, a Christian church, a barber shop, and a school room.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article LaVilla Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

LaVilla Museum
North Davis Street, Jacksonville

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N 30.33516 ° E -81.66717 °
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Jacksonville Urban League

North Davis Street
32202 Jacksonville
Florida, United States
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Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, the most populous city in the state, and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits. As of 2020, Jacksonville's population is 949,611, making it the 12th most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in the Southeast, and the most populous city in the South outside of the state of Texas. With a population of 1,733,937, the Jacksonville metropolitan area ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region.Jacksonville straddles the St. Johns River in the First Coast region of northeast Florida, about 11 miles (18 km) south of the Georgia state line (25 miles (40 km) to the urban core) and 350 miles (560 km) north of Miami. The Jacksonville Beaches communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast. The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline, one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. Under British rule, a settlement grew at the narrow point in the river where cattle crossed, known as Wacca Pilatka to the Seminole and the Cow Ford to the British. A platted town was established there in 1822, a year after the United States gained Florida from Spain; it was named after Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of the Florida Territory and seventh President of the United States. Harbor improvements since the late 19th century have made Jacksonville a major military and civilian deep-water port. Its riverine location facilitates Naval Station Mayport, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the U.S. Marine Corps Blount Island Command, and the Port of Jacksonville, Florida's third largest seaport. Jacksonville's military bases and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay form the third largest military presence in the United States. Significant factors in the local economy include services such as banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. As with much of Florida, tourism is important to the Jacksonville area, particularly tourism related to golf. People from Jacksonville are sometimes called "Jacksonvillians" or "Jaxsons" (also spelled "Jaxons").