Jacksonville Neighborhoods and Beach Towns Guide

The governments of Duval County and the City of Jacksonville consolidated in 1968, while four communities, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach and the City of Baldwin in west Duval County, elected to keep their own governments (City of Jacksonville Beach, Government).

Several Jacksonville neighborhoods were once towns of their own long before 1968. Murray Hill incorporated as a town in 1916 and stayed a separate municipality until the City of Jacksonville annexed it in 1925; the city then assembled Murray Hill Four Corners Park at 4602 Lawnview from six deeds between 1925 and 1939 (City of Jacksonville, Murray Hill Four Corners Park). The Murray Hill guide tells the story of the west Jacksonville town that joined the city.

The practical result for a Jacksonville Beach address: the city runs an independent municipal government but remains part of Duval County, and the county provides or funds certain services there such as beach renourishment, cleanup and some rescue services (Jacksonville Beach government).

Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach kept their own governments at consolidation, and Jacksonville Beach residents elect their own mayor and council while also voting in Jacksonville city elections (City of Jacksonville Beach).

Jacksonville Beach uses a council-manager form of government. Its seven-member City Council, a mayor plus three members elected at large and three elected by district, meets at City Hall, 11 North Third Street, on the first and third Monday of every month except January and July, when it meets only on the third Monday (Jacksonville Beach Government). Jacksonville Beach residents also vote for the mayor of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville City Council and the Duval County School Board, and the city manager, Mike Staffopoulos, runs day-to-day operations and prepares the annual budget (Jacksonville Beach). The Jacksonville Beach guide covers the beach city in more detail.

Atlantic Beach City Hall is at 800 Seminole Road, phone 904-247-5800, and the city lists Curtis Ford as mayor of a five-seat City Commission whose next meeting is October 26, 2026 (City of Atlantic Beach). The Atlantic Beach guide covers the town in more detail.

Downtown Jacksonville change runs through the Downtown Investment Authority, the City of Jacksonville agency for the urban core, and Downtown Vision, whose annual State of Downtown Report benchmarks development and investment, residential demand, the office market and transportation (Downtown Investment Authority; Downtown Vision, Research).

The Downtown Investment Authority is the City of Jacksonville agency that tries to attract investment, create jobs and add residents downtown through capital investment, planning, marketing and public-private partnerships (DIA).

A practical tip: projects named in news stories should be checked against DIA board and Downtown Development Review Board meeting records, which the authority posts on its site, before treating them as built (Downtown Investment Authority). Jacksonville's oldest park is downtown: James Weldon Johnson Park, first laid out as a public square around 1857, across from City Hall at 135 Monroe St. West (City of Jacksonville, James Weldon Johnson Park). The Downtown Jacksonville guide covers downtown redevelopment in detail.

Springfield and Riverside Avondale are the two Jacksonville historic districts with their own city design guidelines and contributing structures lists (City of Jacksonville, Historic Preservation).

The City of Jacksonville historic preservation archive offers the Springfield and Riverside Avondale Design Guidelines and lists of contributing and non-contributing structures in each district (Historic Preservation archives). The tip for a homeowner in Springfield or Riverside Avondale: read the district guideline and the contributing structures list before replacing windows, doors or fences, since the city's guidance on fencing, doors and windows is written for locally designated historic properties (HP archives). The Springfield guide and the Riverside and Avondale guide cover each district in detail.

Memorial Park, at 1620 Riverside Avenue, between Riverside Avenue and the St. Johns River, became the scenic focal point of Riverside: the Olmsted Brothers designed it and it was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1924 (City of Jacksonville, Memorial Park). Across the river, development of the San Marco subdivision began in 1925, and Balis Park at 1999 San Marco Blvd sits in the middle of The Square at San Marco on the site of a Spanish-style service station finished in early 1927 (City of Jacksonville, Balis Park). The San Marco guide covers the neighborhood around The Square.

The St. Johns River Ferry, run by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, carries cars, bikes and walkers between Mayport Village and Ft. George Island every half hour, and a car pays $7 on weekdays and $8 on weekends (JTA, St. Johns River Ferry).

Ferry fares at Mayport rise on January 1, 2027, when a car will pay $8 on weekdays and $10 on weekends and a 20-trip car ticket book will cost $140 instead of $120 (JTA ferry fares). The 0.9-mile crossing takes roughly 5 minutes, fares can be bought in the MyJTA app, and JTA has run the ferry since March 31, 2016 (JTA). The Mayport Village guide covers the village in more detail.

Arlington has the Renew Arlington CRA, Mandarin has Walter Jones Historical Park, and the old Durkee Field ballpark is at 1701 Myrtle Avenue (CRA; park; ballpark).

In Arlington, the City of Jacksonville created a Community Redevelopment Area for three commercial corridors, University Boulevard and Merrill and Arlington roads, under legislation 2015-0738, and all 19 members of the Jacksonville City Council serve as the Renew Arlington CRA board (City of Jacksonville, Renew Arlington). Fort Caroline National Memorial in the Timucuan Preserve opens its grounds 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday (National Park Service). The Arlington guide covers the area in more detail.

In Mandarin, Major William Webb bought 31.2 acres on the St. Johns River in 1873, and in 1994 the City of Jacksonville acquired 10 acres of the homestead to create its first historical park, Walter Jones Historical Park at 11964 Mandarin Road, open in daylight hours; the park opened to the public in August 2000 and the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society runs it under a city contract (City of Jacksonville, Walter Jones Historical Park). The Mandarin guide covers the river community in more detail.

The city bought Durkee Field for $348,000 in 1932 and built its baseball stadium in 1936 to 1937; Negro League and minor league teams played there, and the park took the name J. P. Small Memorial Park Stadium in July 1980. It is James P. Small Park today, at 1701 Myrtle Avenue, and its ballfield was renamed Hank Aaron Ballfield in 2018 (City of Jacksonville, James P. Small Park). The Durkeeville, Brooklyn and Eastside guides cover three more Jacksonville neighborhoods near downtown.

Thirteen Jacksonville places guides go deeper than this hub, one for each neighborhood or beach town named on this page.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Jacksonville, City of Jacksonville Beach, City of Atlantic Beach, Downtown Investment Authority, Downtown Vision, JTA and National Park Service websites. Ferry fares, council schedules and downtown projects in Jacksonville change, so the linked page is the final word.