Kirjahaku

Jacksonville has always been a beer city, with its numerous saloons, bars, and taverns from the 1800s into the present-day era where breweries have now become the dominant feature of the local brewing industry. The brewing industry in Jacksonville began to take shape in the early 1900s with the Jax Brewing Company, which was founded in 1913 and brewed the Jax Beer brand. The New Orleans-based Jackson Brewing Company, which also had a Jax Beer brand, acquired the full rights to sell Jax Beer in the southeastern United States, leading to the Jax Brewing Company closing by 1960. Then the establishment of an Anheuser-Busch plant in Jacksonville in the 1960s drove the local brewing industry out of business due to the increase of more popular brands like Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch continued to fill the void that local breweries left until the advent of the microbrewery industry, which began to take shape in the 1990s with River City Brewing Company. In the 2010s, the brewing industry grew substantially in Jacksonville. By 2024, there were more than 20 breweries and still growing. Brewing in Jacksonville chronicles the history of the local brewing industry from its early days to how breweries gradually gave the Bold City its reputation as a top beer city.Andrew R. Nicholas is a historian and native of North Florida. He graduated from University of North Florida, majoring in history, and is a member of the Jacksonville Historical Society. The photographs used for Brewing in Jacksonville come from the State Archives of Florida, Jacksonville Historical Society, Beaches Museum, and local residents of Jacksonville.

The St. Johns River is the longest river within the state of Florida. Flowing over 300 miles from Central Florida north to Jacksonville and then east to the Atlantic Ocean, it is a vital natural waterway. The river has both a rich past and a long-standing relationship with the wildlife living in, along, and around it. More than 3.5 million people reside on or near the river, including in the cities of Jacksonville, Green Cove Springs, Palatka, and Sanford. Exploring the St. Johns River shows the human history of this waterway--and the lakes in Central Florida that are part of the river--from early European explorations to the most recent developments of the 21st century. This book was created to showcase the history, ecology, and waterways of the St. Johns River.