Skip to main content

Jacksonville Historical Society

Jacksonville Historical Society

This towering Gothic Revival church is the largest pre-1901 house of worship in Jacksonville. When it was constructed in 1887, its architect, Robert S. Schuyler, had already established himself as an experienced designer of Episcopal churches. In addition to four Carpenter Gothic chapels in Waldo, Fairbanks, Pablo Beach, and Lake Santa Fe, Florida, Schuyler also designed St. Peter's Church in Fernandina in 1881 (one of several National Register buildings designed by Schuyler in that city). The excellence of St. Andrew's architecture was praised in the 1889 edition of King's Handbook of Notable Episcopal Churches in the United States.

The once populous residential area around the church has faded in recent years, and by the late 1970's the building had fallen into disuse and disrepair. Its congregation had moved away. Vacant for over a decade, the building was one of the most perplexing challenges facing local preservationists. Ironically, the Jacksonville Jaguars helped save it.

With the coming of the NFL football team, the city government purchased much of the land around the newly constructed Alltel Stadium, including the Old St. Andrews site. The Jacksonville Historical Society was given the rights to the building if it could restore it. Thanks to the city's cooperation and a challenge grant from the Weaver Foundation, JHS was able to raise a million dollars to complete the restoration of the old church to use as its headquarters. Old St. Andrews stands proudly today as one of the finest specimens of nineteenth-century architecture in Duval County, and it is a popular spot for meetings, weddings and other civic events.

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate

Featured Articles

Often thought to have been a weak President, Carter was strong-willed in doing what he thought was right, regardless of expediency or political fallout.

Rarely has the full story been told how a famed botanist, a pioneering female journalist, and First Lady Helen Taft battled reluctant bureaucrats to bring Japanese cherry trees to Washington. 

In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln embodied leading in a time of polarization, political disagreement, and differing understandings of reality.

Native American peoples and the lands they possessed loomed large for Washington, from his first trips westward as a surveyor to his years as President.

A hundred years ago, America was rocked by riots, repression, and racial violence.

During Pres. Washington’s first term, an epidemic killed one tenth of all the inhabitants of Philadelphia, then the capital of the young United States.

Now a popular state park, the unassuming geological feature along the Illinois River has served as the site of centuries of human habitation and discovery.  

The recent discovery of the hull of the battleship Nevada recalls her dramatic action at Pearl Harbor and ultimate revenge on D-Day as the first ship to fire on the Nazis.

Our research reveals that 19 artworks in the U.S. Capitol honor men who were Confederate officers or officials. What many of them said, and did, is truly despicable.

Here is probably the most wide-ranging look at Presidential misbehavior ever published in a magazine.

When Germany unleashed its blitzkreig in 1939, the U.S. Army was only the 17th largest in the world. FDR and Marshall had to build a fighting force able to take on the Nazis, against the wishes of many in Congress.

Roast pig, boiled rockfish, and apple pie were among the dishes George and Martha enjoyed during the holiday in 1797. Here are some actual recipes.