Saving some Jacksonville history for future generations is the goal of a group of Landon High School graduates who seek to place a historical sign in San Marco.
The Landon Alumni Association, led by graduates Charlie Rooks, William Harrell, Howard Coker and Bill Warner, have begun discussion with the City of Jacksonville to place a historical marker commemorating the history of the former high school.
“Students from our last graduating class are nearing their 80s, and we have gotten together to preserve the history of the school,” said Rooks, chair of the association’s Landon High Memorial Committee. “We just didn’t want Landon to be forgotten.”
The group has met with District 5 City Councilman Joe Carlucci and City of Jacksonville Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services Daryl Joseph to discuss what the proposed marker and its likely location, but have yet to reach an agreement.
Remembering the Impact of Landon High
The growth of Jacksonville caused the city to open three new high schools in 1927: Andrew Jackson, Julia B. Landon and Robert E. Lee, renamed Riverside in 2021. Landon was the smallest of the three, located at 1819 Thacker Ave. in the San Marco neighborhood. The school’s size contributed to what made it a special place, according to Coker, class president of the last graduating class.
“It was a very friendly place with a great mix of kids, and the teachers were wonderful,” said Coker, founder of Coker Law Personal Injury Lawyers and past president of The Florida Bar. “The school was so small that if a student had any athletic ability, they played all sports.”
Landon High School was closed in the spring of 1965, but it was converted into a junior high school that fall. The institution saw another change in 2009 when it became a magnet school and was renamed Julia Landon College Preparatory and Leadership Development School.
Throughout all the changes, the graduates of Landon High School have held on to fond memories of life-changing moments experienced within Landon’s classrooms.
“We had an English teacher, Mrs. Hunter Perkins, who was our senior English teacher,” said Harrell, a U.S. Navy veteran and 1961 Landon graduate. “You were scared to get her, but you were also scared if you didn’t get her. We had to go in early and recite lines of ‘Macbeth.’ She would be doing work listening to us and she would know if we missed a line.”
During his senior year, he discussed his plans after graduation with Perkins. He let her know that he and three friends were going to attend the University of Florida and room together. She strongly suggested that the four of them take the Naval ROTC exam to help them continue their studies.
“The exam was a way to get a scholarship to college. I ended up going to Georgia Tech on a Navy scholarship and it helped, because my father had five children in college my freshman year,” said Harrell. “One of my friends also earned a scholarship, and that helped him get an appointment to U.S. Naval Academy.”
Perkins was just one example of the memorable teachers at Landon, Harrell said.
“She changed the lives of several of us with that one incident,” Harrell said.
It is experiences like these that have led Harrell to join the effort to preserve Landon High School’s history.
“It has so many graduates of significance that have contributed to the development of Jacksonville, San Marco and the business shopping center of San Marco itself, “said Harrell. “It is an important educational project that will continue to make people reflect and remember the importance of the school.”
A short film was created to celebrate the history of Landon High School, and those working to save its past, titled “Guardians of Landon.”
