South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church  celebrated its 100th Anniversary this past weekend.  Thanks to the Lopez family for providing photos of Sunday’s festivities.

An Important Part Of Jacksonville’s Heritage…

(Source:  http://www.sjaxpc.org/about/history/ ) South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church was an important part of Jacksonville’s expansion south of the St. Johns River in the early 1900′s. The church is named for South Jacksonville, which was a separate town in 1913 when SJPC was established.

The church first began as a small Sunday School and as an outreach of First Presbyterian Church downtown. It held its meetings in a rented building not far from the river ferry that joined South Jacksonville with Jacksonville. Eventually, a small church was erected on the corner of LaSalle and Hendricks Avenue.

The first vehicular bridge over the St. Johns was completed in 1921, and South Jacksonville became a part of Jacksonville within a few years. Much of the original San Marco area was constructed during the 1920′s and 1930′s, resulting in the attractive residential areas and town square next to our sanctuary.

In 1937, Dr. Stephen T. Harvin moved from North Carolina to become SJPC’s pastor. He wanted a new church and led the congregation in a mood of “building fever”. In 1939, the same year as the New York World’s Fair and the release of “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” the church moved to the three story brick building first erected at its present location.  more…