Download or read book Jacksonville in Vintage Postcards written by Jacksonville Historical Society and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Fire of May 3, 1901 marked at once the end and the beginning of the City of Jacksonville. A thriving port and a center for business and tourism until that point, Jacksonville was devastated by the conflagration, and yet, even before the ashes had cooled, a building boom began. Prominent and aspiring architects flocked to the area and the opportunities it afforded them to create a "twentieth century city." Jacksonville's ensuing era of reconstruction and growth, which would continue until the United States entered World War I in 1917, helped to define the city's present personality and appearance.