At its height, Broad Street’s Black-owned banks, insurance companies, restaurants, theaters, mutual aid societies, boarding houses, seafood markets, grocery stores, hotels, furniture stores, and professional offices were a major focal point of African American life, culture, and Civil Rights resistance in Florida.
Originally named Bridge Street, it was renamed Broad Street during the 1920s. At 132 Broad Street in 1898, Patrick Henry Chappelle opened the south’s first Black-owned theater, Excelsior Concert Hall. In 1900, he launched the Rabbit’s Foot Company. The Rabbit’s Foot Company, also known as “The Foots,” was a long-running minstrel and variety troupe that toured as a tent show in the American South between 1900 and the late 1950s. Headquartered in LaVilla prior to World War I, it was the leading traveling vaudeville show with Chappelle being called “the Black P.T. Barnum and one of the biggest employers of African Americans in the entertainment industry.” Entertainers who started their careers through “The Foods” include: Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Bessie Smith, Louis Jordan, and comedians Tim Moore and Butterbeans and Susie.
South of Adams Street, businesses catered to LaVilla’s red light district and the Greek and Syrian communities. Along the corridor, Jacksonville’s Orthodox Jewish community established kosher meat markets, clothing trades, and dry goods businesses. At a time when African Americans were not allowed in Downtown Jacksonville, many businesses catered to the Black community. Black restaurant operators along Ashley and Davis Streets were the principal customers for many markets on Broad Street.
Long-time businesses included: Pierce-Wall Furniture Company, Worman’s Bakery & Delicatessen, Pedro Mendez Cuban Tailor, The Florida Star, DeLoach Furniture Company, the Blue Chip Hotel, Imperial Pharmacy, Atlanta Life Insurance Company, Central Life Insurance Company, Duck Inn Restaurant, Walker’s Business College, Imperial Pharmacy, Ellie Weems Photography, New Deal Cab Company, Broadway Department Store, Progress Furniture, and Singleton’s Superior Bar-B-Q.
