Edmund Kirby-Smith Junior High School at 2034 Hubbard Street in Jacksonville is of the Mediterranean Revival Style, which is an eclectic style containing architectural elements with Spanish and Italian precedents. According to a Jacksonville Historic Landmark plaque on the building, the architects were Roy A. Benjamin and Mellen C. Greeley, who were partners from 1919 to 1924. The school was constructed in 1923 and is now listed as an Historic Landmark by the Jacksonville Historic Landmarks Commission, as well as a contributing structure to the Springfield Historic District.
The City of Jacksonville includes the following information about the Springfield Historic District on its website
(visit link):
"The Springfield Historic District, located just north of downtown Jacksonville, is composed mainly of wood frame residential buildings and a much smaller number of masonry commercial, religious, educational, and civic structures. Its concentrated physical development began about 1882 with the formation of the Springfield Development Company and accelerated after the fire that destroyed much of downtown Jacksonville in 1901. Contributing buildings in the district date from about 1885 to approximately 1930. The majority of the houses are wood frame vernacular structures, but there are some examples of late nineteenth-century revival and romantic styles, including Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and the Stick style. Twentieth-century types include Prairie School, Bungalow, and Mediterranean."
"The boundaries of Springfield are well defined. Hogans Creek lies along its south edge, and railroad lines are found on the north and east. Boulevard defines the western limit of the district where a later commercial strip abuts the earlier residential area. Contemporary with the overall residential area are two commercial strips along Main and Eighth Streets which join at the heart of the district. The district contains 119 city blocks in an area of approximately 500 acres, or slightly less than one square mile. Hogans Creek separates the residences of Springfield from the downtown business district. North of the creek few buildings rise above two stories and parks and tree lined streets are common."
"The blocks of the historic district are laid out in a regular grid, with named streets running north and south and numbered streets east and west. Most of the blocks have alleys, usually arranged in an "H" pattern, although other configurations are found. A few streets retain their original brick pavers and granite curbstones, but the majority are now covered with asphalt and have concrete curbs. Sidewalks feature both the earlier hexagonal pavers and modern poured concrete sections. Trees lend considerable distinction to the neighborhood. Oaks predominate. Scattered throughout the neighborhood are such decorative elements as hitching posts, cast iron fences, rusticated concrete block walls and carriage stepping stones, testimony to the area's turn-of-the-century origins. There is, however, no great concentration of such elements."
"Some additional commercial and industrial buildings are found along the northern and eastern boundaries of the district in conjunction with the railroad lines, and isolated commercial structures are found within the neighborhood. Schools, churches, multi-family residences and parks are found throughout the neighborhood. Although there are a number of modern intrusions along Springfield's main commercial arteries, these have not proved so numerous as to be overwhelming. Also, except for demolitions, the residential area remains largely unchanged, with relatively little post-1930 construction."
"At the time the district was listed in the National Register, it contained 1,784 buildings fifty years old or older that contributed to its historical character. Of that number, 1,686 were classified as residential. Only 48 were commercial. The great majority of buildings, 1,595, were wood frame, and 201 were masonry. There were l,294 buildings of two stories in height and 10 three-story structures. The remainder were all one-story structures."
"Contributing buildings were all fifty years old or older and retained enough of their original physical character to adequately embody the sense of time, place, and historic association normally required in establishing a historic district. These comprised 95 percent of all of the buildings in the district. The non-contributing buildings were either less than fifty years old and lacked exceptional significance or were more than fifty years old but retained little, if any, of their original physical integrity. These numbered five percent of the total."