Jacksonville’s Coquina Rock

In one corner of James Weldon Johnson Park sits a large rock whose craggy and aged surface suggests it has kept watch over this historic public space for more than 200 years. Unlike its tree companions who perished in Jacksonville’s fire of 1901, it has stood the test of time almost entirely in this spot. 

The Coquina Rock, witness to our city’s earliest history, guided settlers, famous soldiers, armies and men working in the live oak trade along the Old King’s Road, a roadway built by the British in 1767 to connect Georgia to Florida. The British created this roughly 150-mile roadway to connect troops and plantations, and to encourage settlements in Florida. 

This now discreet marker is a rare form of oceanic limestone made of shell fragments of mollusks and other marine invertebrates that are cemented together by calcium carbonate found in the shells. Plentiful in Florida, coquina rock was used often for markers and, because of its lightweight and durable nature as a building material, even to build forts. (Think Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, whose coquina structure has stood nearly 300 years.) 

The Coquina Rock’s constant and continuing contribution to Jacksonville’s historic public square, originally called City Park and now James Weldon Johnson Park, was marked in 1928 with a sign donated by the Jacksonville Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.  

After two decades of relocation first to a city warehouse and later San Jose Park, Coquina Rock returned to its renovated downtown park home in 1998. And so it sits today, witness to the growing inclusivity, diversity and connection of Jacksonville residents and visitors.