Walter Jones Historic Park
St. Joseph’s Mission Schoolhouse
Park Overview
Traveling to a more historic corner of Jacksonville, Florida along the St. Johns River, the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society has preserved a collection of 19th century structures on a 10-acre site at Walter Jones Historic Park. Established in 1994 as Jacksonville’s first historical park, this site contains the Mandarin Museum, along with Duval County’s last remaining one-room schoolhouse built in 1898 as a mission school for African American children. This rural park also marks the location where ships docked in the 1800s to replenish their supplies of vegetables, fruits, and lumber and carry these goods to other Jacksonville ports from Mandarin, a city that depended on the timber business.
Nature Trail
Nature Trail
Stepping onto the wide, paved nature trail, we bask in the morning sun and feast our eyes on a sabal palm, magnolia, and wild blueberry understory with live oak towering above our heads. Clusters of red berries sit on low branches, trails of resurrection fern cover the high oak branches, and brightly colored painted frogs lurk in the nooks and crannies of the forest leading us to a wooden barn with a wide door frame and a drastic gable roof. The barn was built in 1876 to store farming equipment and produce and was later restored in 1999 by the State of Florida.
1876 Barn
1876 Barn & Other Structures
The 1876 Barn and 1875 Farmhouse are the center pieces of this hidden treasure shrouded by Spanish moss dangling from ancient oak trees and beauty berries run amok. Other structures include an old servant’s quarters, a chicken house, a fenced feeding area, and a 1950s sawmill that was found along the banks of Julington Creek. Smells of fresh lumber fill my nostrils even though the sawmill is no longer in use. I follow thick shards of bamboo and luxurious layers of fern along the perimeter and come upon the Walter Jones Farmhouse.
Historic Farmhouse
Originally constructed in 1875 for a Civil War veteran, the Jones family resided here from 1906 through 1992. Walter Jones, whom the park is named for, served as Mandarin’s Postmaster during this time. Peering in the windows, most of the interior furnishings have been preserved. All the structures on site are open on the first Saturday of every month for public viewing.
Losco Winery
This viewing includes the Losco Winery that was built in 1892 by Italian immigrant, Francis Losco, on a 7-acre vineyard in west Jacksonville that yielded a flow of muscadine wine to produce 40 barrels of wine per year until the Prohibition Era. Now located in Walter Jones Park, the structure houses the original fermentation equipment, along with wine bottles and labels.
St. Johns River
St. Johns River
Taking our exploration toward the river, we walk along the winding Mandarin Boardwalk amongst the smells of cedar woods and trickling rays of sunlight on our skin. We look out into the vicariously blue currents of the St. Johns River where Webb’s Wharf once extended 1,000 feet into the river, serving as a source of economic opportunity for steamships to transport fruits and vegetables. Now we sit with our backs pressed against the wooden bench and inhale the crisp scents of cedar and sawmill, listening to the tide washing up against the wooden planks on the river’s edge, as the day passes on and we dwell in the rediscovery of our hometown.
Walter Jones Historic Park
Planning Your Visit:
The Mandarin Museum and Schoolhouse are open on Saturdays from 9am-4pm at Walter Jones Historic Park.
The park offers privately guided tours by appointment.
Contact: mandarinmuseum@bellsouth.net or 904-268-0784
The 1911 Mandarin Store & Post Office at 12471 Mandarin Road is open every first Saturday from 12-4pm.