J Magazine Spring 2018

dants zipped customers up and down the
store’s levels.
Ronnie Brown, who works with Jacksonville’s
Human Rights Commission,
remembers that as a boy his parents often
brought him from his home in Live Oak to
Downtown and Cohen Bros.
“This was a happening place,” he says,
especially during the holidays when store’s
fanciful window displays were a destination
in themselves.
Today the building is still something of a
destination. Visitors are welcomed through
its front doors where they can once again
gaze upward in amazement at the restored
arcade and glass dome.
“I’m telling you, you get people all the
time here taking pictures,” Brown said. “You
don’t get to see this kind of architectural
detail anymore.”
» City Hall is open weekdays from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for visitors.
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3 p.m.
Old City Cemetery
Corner of East Union and
North Washington streets
On the northern boundary of Downtown
is historic ground far removed from
the gaiety of Sweet Pete’s or the excitement
that was once Cohen’s. Here, the crowd is
much quieter; in fact you could say their
moods are more grave.
A walk through cedar-lined Old City
Cemetery is a walk through the city’s
history.
Old City Cemetery, its entrance off
East Union Street, was created in 1852
as Jacksonville’s main burial ground. Its
occupants represent the early diversity of
the city.
To the north side lie the early graves of
the city’s black residents. To the west is the
Jewish cemetery. A group of Confederate
graves are near the pavilion in the center.
Whites, Cubans and Minorcan graves are
scattered throughout.
Some have even claimed Native Americans
buried their dead here many decades
before.
There are the graves of numerous
yellow fever victims struck down in the
epidemic of 1889. Nearby are the graves
of French nuns sent to educate black children.
Both black Union soldiers and freed
slaves are buried here.
Also entombed are several governors,
numerous military officers, local politicians
and Jacksonville volunteers in the
The historic Bostwick Building on the corner of Ocean and Bay streets is home to Cowford Chophouse,
Downtown’s newest restaurant. The upscale restaurant also features a picturesque rooftop bar.
Cuban Revolution as well as more recent
luminaries.
Although it’s a quiet respite in Downtown’s
hubbub, visitors with knowledge of
history can almost hear the whispers.
“I missed you after you were gone,”
Eartha White might murmur to her mother,
Clara, who died in 1920, leaving her
daughter alone for the next 54 years of her
life to continue the family’s good works.
“Yes, but I certainly am proud of what
you’ve accomplished, daughter,” Clara
might possibly say in a quiet voice.
The two women’s graves lie side by side
in City Cemetery, bound in death as they
were in life.
» City Cemetery is open to the public
from sunrise to sunset every day.
6
6 p.m.
Cowford Chophouse
101 E. Bay St.
The historic building at the corner of
East Bay and Ocean streets is the final stop
on this 12-hour tour of Downtown. Once
known in Jacksonville as the building
where Jaguars peeked from the windows,
it’s now Downtown’s newest upscale
restaurant.
But decades before the Chophouse,
the 1902 Bostwick Building was the home
of another upscale institution — The First
National Bank, later replaced by Guaranty
Trust and Savings Bank. In later years, it
became an office building and was home
to the architectural business run by Klutho.
The building was lovingly restored by
Forking Amazing Restaurants over a nearly
four-year period. More damaged than
originally thought, it was taken apart brick
by brick then carefully resurrected.
Wood found in the building was
refinished and now covers one side of the
restaurant’s elevator. A silhouette of the St.
Johns River and its tributaries is cut into
the wood and the river’s interior is covered
in gold flakes, remnants of some of the gold
items found within the original bank’s vault
during restoration.
Kassidy Lankford and Trevor Spinks
are on their first visit to the Cowford, a celebratory
meal before catching a showing
of “The Lion King” at the Times-Union
Performing Arts Center.
The couple had just finished plates of
salmon and steak, wishing they had room
for one of the desserts heralded at the
restaurant. But not this night.
“Maybe we can come back here sometime
just for dessert,” Spinks said wistfully,
eyeing a triple dark chocolate torte on a
neighbor’s plate.
Although Lankford and Spinks had to
rush off to catch their evening’s performance,
visitors should not neglect the
Cowford’s rooftop bar, for its splendid view
of Downtown and the St. Johns River.
An unforgettable ending for an unforgettable
12 hours.
» To obtain more information about
the Cowford Chophouse and to
make reservations go to its website
at cowfordchophouse.com.
Paula Horvath is an editorial writer and
Editorial Board member at The Florida Times-Union
and teaches multimedia journalism at the University
of North Florida. She lives in St. Nicholas.
DANIS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
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J MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018