Based on archeological evidence of Native American burial mounds, archival documents from the colonial British and Spanish eras, official territorial public land records in the American Library of Congress An earthenware tobacco pipe and a Weedon Island multi-compartment bowl which were recovered from these sites, are in the curatorial facility of the
National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. In 1852, Solomon S. Shad III bought New Ross and renamed it. For decades following the
American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865), and the emancipation of enslaved Africans, much of the old agricultural land on the cape served as small family farms or was parceled off for sale by plantation heirs.
Modern Era – Suburban Subdivisions on the Cape (20th Century) The two mile curved half-loop cape road of San Jose Blvd., that runs parallel to the river, passes by 20 plus separately-platted subdivisions created on the cape in the 20th Century. The smallest subdivisions are only one street long or appear as fragments developed at different times within larger neighborhoods, as is the case with Colonial Manor and Miramar Terrace. Colonial Manor, developed by San Marco's developers Stockton, Whatley and Davin, is a sprawling subdivision that includes by design three city parks: Colonial Manor Park (“The Duck Pond”) with its water fowl, fountains, and remote-control boat hobbyists; Greenridge Road Park on a creek that flows directly into the St. Johns River; and on the Hendricks Avenue outskirts, Mickey King Park. A city
pocket park sits on the riverbank at the end of Inwood Terrace. Hendricks Elementary School, founded in 1942, serving over 600 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5, with their mascot Henry the Eagle, is the only public school on the cape.
Tip of the Cape and South The Farquhar Bethune Grant, on the tip of the cape and south, is now the location of the neighborhoods of Point La Vista, the rest of Miramar Terrace and ten riverfront street-sized subdivisions to Miramar Center which fall within the New Ross Plantation boundaries. In 1904, a few years after Jacksonville's "Great Fire", R. Fleming Bowden, Sheriff and Tax Collector, and a descendant of the pioneering Hogans and Bowden families, purchased 140 acres of undeveloped land known as "Point La Vista". For over 50 years, the Bowden family lived on an estate there. Flora Genth Bowden, the Sheriff's wife, was a founder and president of the Jacksonville Humane Society. One of their African-American servants, Shack Thomas, a former slave, gave an autobiographical field interview in the
Works Project Administration’s (WPA’s) oral history “Slave Narratives”, giving a glimpse into the life experiences of formerly enslaved African workers. In his 1930 interview, Thomas, by then a
centenarian, recounted his earliest memories of living on a plantation in West Florida owned by a "Mr. Jim Campbell" where they grew corn, peanuts, cotton and potatoes. Mr. Campbell was described as "moderate" and Thomas said, "the most he would give us was a switching and most of the time we could pray our way out of that". After freedom and a move to Jacksonville, Thomas said he worked for many people, but "I worked for Mr. Bowden the longest". which sits on the curve at the site of the old Bowden family estate, was created by Joseph Davin of State Investment Company. It features mid-century ranch and custom-built homes on a contoured cul-de-sac with underground utilities and city sidewalks throughout. • Miramar Terrace (Created from 1926 to 1947) encompasses the area east of San Jose Blvd. It is a charming neighborhood of brick bungalows that culminates in the shops and restaurants of Miramar Center
. • The sale of other Bowden riverfront property resulted in two additional street-long subdivisions, South Granada (1951), and Old Grove Manor (1954). The riverfront mansion of Old Grove Manor was built in 1924 by state Senator William C. Hodges. Rio Lindo Drive, an unregistered subdivision, was created from a private road on the banks of Greenridge Park. South of this, a proposed neighborhood of 1911 called Ives & Patterson's "Hollywood" was subsequently subdivided into the following streets: Great Oaks Lane (1941); Philips Manor (1973); Heaven Trees (1961); Gadsden Court (1941); Silverwood Lane; Kelnepa Drive (1925); San Jose Lane (1945); San Jose Terrace/Landover Drive (1950); and Worth Drive (1950). The modern suburbs of the Point La Vista cape end at Miramar Center where San Jose Blvd. and Hendricks Avenue converge at the south end. From the time of the Timucua through colonial Europeans until the 21st century, the cape has been a strategically located and inviting place for settlement on the banks of the St. Johns River. == References ==