Walter Jones Historical Park
11964 Mandarin Road
Park open every day, sunrise to sunset
Mandarin Museum in Walter Jones Park
Currently closed for renovations
St. Joseph’s Schoolhouse and other historic buildings
Open 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, 10 am – 2 pm
Historic Mandarin Store and Post Office
12471 Mandarin Road
Open 3rd Saturdays of the month, 10 am – 2 pm
Temporary changes to our regular hours will be posted on our Events Calendar.
Mandarin now is a small section of the City of Jacksonville, Florida, but its natural beauty, parks and historic buildings draw visitors from around the world.
Ancient Live Oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Tannin-colored waters of the St. Johns River lapping the trunks of cypress trees along the shore. Timucuans and English and Spanish explorers came by canoe, on foot and by horseback. Civil War soldiers, farmers, citrus growers and their families traveled by boat and by steamship. Today, children jump off the school bus, run along the riverfront boardwalk and race up the path to explore the 1875 homestead.
In the 1800s, Mandarin was a small farming village that shipped oranges, grapefruit, lemons and other fruits and vegetables to Jacksonville and points north on the steamships that traveled the St. Johns River. In 1864, the Union steamship, the Maple Leaf, hit a Confederate mine and sank just off Mandarin Point. Author Harriet Beecher Stowe wintered in the village from 1867 to 1884. And you can visit the only remaining one-room schoolhouse in Duval County, the 1898 St. Joseph’s Mission Schoolhouse for African-American Children.
Come see why we were awarded a Jax Best award for Best Local History Museum four years in a row!
DIRECTIONS
To reach the Mandarin Museum and St. Joseph’s Schoolhouse at Walter Jones Historical Park, located at 11964 Mandarin Road: The park is located in the southern portion of Jacksonville, Florida, south of I-295. Exit 295 at San Jose Blvd., traveling south. Make a right turn at Mandarin Road. Proceed .8 mile to the park entrance, which is on the right.
To reach the old Mandarin Store and Post Office, located at 12471 Mandarin Road: Follow the above directions to the park. Proceed for another .8 mile. The old Mandarin Store and Post Office is located on the left, at the corner of Mandarin Rd. and Brady Rd.
