//
Photo: Jesse Allen, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Consist of a collection of sites within Timucuan's vast area. The salt march looks much as it did 500 years ago and is a haven of wildlife and biodiversity. The properties are under the management of the Nature Conservancy in partnership with the National Park Service.
The Machaba Balu Preserve is a nature preserve encompassing 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of protected lands in northeastern Florida, just to the northeast of Jacksonville, at the confluence of the Nassau, the St. Marys, and the St. Johns Rivers as they flow toward the Atlantic Ocean through a wide network of islands, canals, and tidal marshes. The name Machaba Balu means "saved marsh" in the language of the Timucua people, who occupied the area in pre-Columbian times and met the first European explorers of the region; the Timucua never used this name themselves, however, as it is a modern language construct. The preserve, created with land purchased in 2002 mostly from Alcoma Corporation by the Nature Conservancy, includes 77 islands and numerous individual tracts of tidal marshland between the Nassau and the St. Johns Rivers. The largest clusters lie to the west of Little Talbot Island State Park and on either side of Sisters Creek south of the large fork.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Hosts more than 2,000 rare and exotic animals and 1,000 varieties of plants. It is constantly growing and changing and always a pleasurable experience.
Just north or downtown is a historic neighborhood with architecture varying from Victorian and Craftsmen to Colonial Revival and Prairie School. Characterized by large porches, iconic city parks, and immersed in a blanketing oak canopy, Springfield is quickly becoming a hot spot for any traveler looking for an authentic taste of Jacksonville.
A cultural museum showcasing the people and places that flourished within the Jacksonville African American community during the Jim Crow era.
Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center
Converted in 1986 into a convention center, Jacksonville Terminal once served as one of the busiest train stations in the South. Designed by famed architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison, the station exhibits Beaux-art features and is reminiscent of New York's Old Penn Station.
About 1 mi southwest of downtown on the banks of the St. Johns River, this neighborhood was built primarily between 1910 and 1930 and features a variety of historic homes, churches and apartment buildings. It has as its commercial center eclectic Five Points which features both unique retail and dining all in a bohemian atmosphere. Also notable in the neighborhood is Memorial Park which is situated near Five Points adjacent to the River. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. and has as its centerpiece a statue of Winged Victory as a memorial to the dead of World War I. To visit this area from downtown, take Jefferson Street which becomes Riverside Avenue.
Along the St. Johns River just southwest of and adjacent to Riverside, was built during the 1920s Florida land boom as "Riverside's Residential Ideal". The stately historic houses here were constructed in a variety of architectural styles, including Tudor, Georgian Revival, Prairie, Shingle, Mediterranean Revival and Bungalow. The commercial heart of the neighborhood is known as the Shops of Avondale which are along St. Johns Avenue between Talbot and Dancy Streets. Here, there are many upscale dining and shopping opportunities.