JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 125 years ago on May 3rd, the Great Fire of 1901 devastated the city of Jacksonville.
In just over eight hours, over 2,400 buildings were destroyed, leaving more than 10,000 residents homeless and several killed.
The Jacksonville Fire Department notes that “to this day, it remains the third largest urban fire in United States history.”
The University of North Florida has a digital exhibit that walks viewers through the event, featuring historic documents and photographs.
The exhibit, called “Acres of Ashes: The Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901“, says the fire was ignited by a spark landing in drying Spanish moss in the Cleveland Fibre Factory. The factory stood in what is now the LaVilla neighborhood downtown.
After the fire tore through 146 blocks, the city was strategically rebuilt. Legislation was passed that required structures downtown to be built with “fireproof” brick and essentially changed the way Jacksonville approached architecture and city planning.
To learn more about the Great Fire and the ways it forever changed the River City, you can visit UNF’s digital exhibit HERE.
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