Neighborhoods of Jacksonville - San Marco

San Marco

San Marco is a neighborhood south of Downtown Jacksonville, across the St. Johns River. Its origins are with the former city of South Jacksonville. Today, most of what was once the city of South Jacksonville is known as San Marco, while South Jacksonville or Southside is used for a much wider section of southern Duval County.

The area now comprising San Marco was occupied continuously long before what is now Downtown Jacksonville. It was the site of the ferry that crossed the Cow Ford, and was the site of plantations from the 18th century. After the Civil War these gave way to residential developments, including Oklahoma and South Jacksonville, the latter of which came to absorb the other communities. South Jacksonville was incorporated as a city in 1907, and grew significantly following the construction of the original Acosta Bridge in 1921. In 1932 South Jacksonville was annexed by Jacksonville.

The name San Marco comes from South Jacksonville's most ambitious development, begun in 1926 and consisting of many upscale Mediterranean Revival-style homes and an integrated commercial sector known as San Marco Square. Later, as South Jacksonville or Southside came to be applied to a wider and wider area of the city, San Marco has been applied to most of the area formerly a part of South Jacksonville. San Marco remains a diverse and architecturally significant neighborhood, with many of its former government buildings and homes surviving.