San Marco

Decades before Walt Disney�s dream took root in central Florida, tourists flocked to a place on the banks of the St. Johns River known simply as South Jacksonville. Although small and rural, it played a large part in the history of Florida, helping establish a premier tourist destination. South Jacksonville evolved into San Marco, whose unique history rivals anything found in a best-selling novel. That history includes steamships and bridges, ostriches and alligators, sharpshooters and daredevils, train wrecks, haunted theaters, sprawling plantations, Oriental gardens, �The Coney Island of the South,� Creature from the Black Lagoon, Babe Ruth, John Phillip Sousa, Tom Mix, and an elephant named Toddles. All played a part in the rich and varied history that is San Marco.