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Women like Lucille McCloud, who is 92 years old, offer vivid recollections of life in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside, a community forever altered by the events of the 1969 riot.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As part of a February series on Good Morning Jacksonville, viewers have been invited every Monday to explore the vibrant history of “Out East,” a quaint neighborhood nestled near Downtown Jacksonville, just a stone’s throw from EverBank Stadium.
This area, known as the Eastside, is celebrated as Jacksonville’s last 19th-century historically Black neighborhood, dating back to the post-Civil War era. Over the decades, it has seen profound transformations, witnessed firsthand by a group of resilient women who have called it home.
Among them is Lucille McCloud, who reminisces, “In the afternoons, if the sun is shining, you’ll find me sitting on the bench along Florida Avenue.”
Even though Florida Avenue hasn’t retained that name for over thirty years, Ms. Lucille remains a steadfast presence in the community, still referring to it by its historical name.
“Nowhere but on the Eastside,” McCloud declared. “That’s where the happening is: Out East.”
Born 92 years ago and raised Out East, she’s been a witness to history unfolding in her neighborhood. Along with Elaine Ford Jackson, who you’ll often find side by side with McCloud on The Avenue.
“We had our pool room, that’s a Black necessity, Keitha,” Elaine Ford laughed. “We had the theater. We were self-contained here.”
“We had a grocery store across the street,” Wand Laurie recalls. “We had a gas station, at least three bars. There was a furniture store, a doctor’s office, a fire department, two mortuaries. So there were a lot of thriving businesses. A lot of people.”
“All of Jacksonville knew Eastside Liquors as ‘The Ugly Bar.’ How it got its name is people said ‘this is the Ugly Bar because there are a whole lot of ugly folks in here,’” Pearl Graham declared.
Just months after moving from rural Georgia in October 1969, Graham found herself in the middle of a riot, one that would permanently change the landscape of Eastside Black-owned businesses.
“I remember when they came with the fire, they set his car on fire and I ran downtown,” Graham said. “I was so afraid. I had never seen anything like that because I was from the country.”
Tensions boiled over after shots were fired by a white delivery driver who believed someone was attempting to break into his truck. He fired at a Black man, and into a crowd that included neighborhood children. Community outrage led to looting and fires; unrest erupted amid deep racial tensions.
“They burned up Mr. Pajcic’s car, they looted a whole lot of businesses down here,” Graham said.
After the 1969 Eastside Riot, the strip once frequented by famed figures like Asa Philip Randolph and Zora Neale Hurston would never be the same.
“It turned into almost like a slum,” Laurie recalls. “All the businesses started to close, buildings got condemned.”
Laurie’s family business sits along what was once Florida Avenue, now A. Philip Randolph Boulevard, officially renamed in 1995 to honor the prominent civil rights leader who grew up nearby.
“We’re a part of rebuilding the Eastside,” Laurie said.
Skyline Wings & Things is one of several businesses slowly returning as the city begins investing in the long-neglected historic neighborhood.
“They tore down a lot of our old historical houses and stuff,” McCloud said. “They’re building newer houses and stuff, but it’s still the Eastside.”
“I’m just so happy that they’re beginning to recognize and acknowledge the Eastside, I really am,” Jackson said.
“Everybody Out East loves one another, we all stick together,” McCloud said. “Good times, bad times, we’re all in it together.”
To learn more about today’s featured artist, Suzanne Pickett, visit her website.