Revelers crowded downtown Saturday to celebrate Jacksonville's 200th birthday
Thousands crowded downtown streets and the riverfront Saturday to celebrate Jacksonville's 200th birthday with food, fun, live music and fireworks.
A small protest by community activists outside Jacksonville City Hall was largely ignored by revelers at nearby James Weldon Johnson Park as they focused instead on a street festival, music and reenactors portraying people from the city's past.
The celebration began at noon at the park and was scheduled to conclude about 10:30 p.m. at Riverfront Park — the former Jacksonville Landing — following the fireworks.
Festivities featured activities such as exhibits displaying vintage photos of Jacksonville in its early days, artist booths, vendors, food trucks, historic tours and family-oriented games.
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Andrew Sack and his 5-year-old son, Devon, played cornhole in the park as reenactors strolled through the crowd greeting people. Amid the game, Sack told his son that Jacksonville officially turns 200 on June 15.
"I just think it's a great opportunity for him to get some history about Jacksonville," said Sack, who is a Jacksonville native. His son was born while the family lived in Texas.
"We moved back to Jacksonville and we're excited about being here. So I wanted to give him some history about the city," said Sack, who works at North Florida Special Eduction in the equestrian therapy program.
"People need to show up at events like this," he also said. "We're out here to show we're not afraid to come out in public," said Sack, noting that despite crime and violence dominating the news, he feels safe in Jacksonville and comfortable enough to bring his son to major events like the street festival.
Susan and Lee Fifield, who portrayed their historic personas Mrs. and Mr. Thomas Elton of Market Street looked like they'd just stepped out of 1922 Saturday morning at the park.
That year, the Elton family lived in the home now owned by the Fifields. The couple are veteran reenactors who carefully researched the history of their home and its former occupants for events such as recreation of history.
They strolled through the park checking out the exhibits as people checked them out — smiling at their period clothing and portrayal of residents at that time.
"They weren't anybody famous. They were just regular folks," Susan Fifield said. "We're happy to see the turnout so far. It would be nice if it was a little cooler.
Longtime Jacksonville residents, he's a retired teacher after 20-plus years in the Navy and she's a retired nurse.
"We enjoy doing it," she said of acting and doing reenactments.
Take' Em Down Jax and other community activist organizations held a rally on the front steps of city hall. They called for the immediate removal of all the Confederate statues and monuments. Other speeches focused on housing inequity, women's rights and police reform.
Competing against live music and intermittent drizzle, the protest attracted about a dozen spectators at any given time. Many people paused for a minute or two to see what they were doing and then left even before thunder sounded over downtown.
The bicentennial celebration marks the anniversary of the first time "Jacksonville" was used to describe the small community along the banks of the St. Johns River.
About 60 residents sent a petition to the federal government on June 15, 1822, seeking to have their town designated as an official port of entry to be named Jacksonville.
The petition was never approved. The city officially came into being on Feb. 9, 1832, when the Florida Legislative Council approved Jacksonville's first charter, creating a town government.
In an unrelated Saturday event elsewhere downtown, hundreds of boats rallied in the "World's First [Ron] DeSantis Flotilla" on the St. Johns River. The Republican Party of Duval County and Republican Wome's Club Of Duval Federated promoted the event on Facebook to show support for the governor.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville bicentennial was marked by celebration and demonstration
