JaxParks

Earl M. Johnson Memorial Park is located between Emerson St. and University Blvd. on the Southside. After the Civil War, much of the area was settled by African-American families, and the community became known as Pine Forest (also Larsen). Most of the land was donated to the City in 1976 and utilized as the former Stetson Road Landfill. The park was created by 1990 and named that year for Earl M. Johnson (1928-1968), the first African-American member of the Jacksonville Bar Association. He worked tirelessly for civil rights throughout Florida, while serving 16 years on the City Council and on the Commission that drafted the new consolidated government in 1968. The site contains 2 fishing lakes and 8 youth soccer fields, often used by the Jacksonville Youth Soccer Club, which helps the City maintain the park. Park Fields will be closed Aug. 5, 2009-November 8,2009 for field renovation.