Skip to main content

Ghost Town Tuesday; Yukon, FL (Abandoned brick roads and suburbia)

Alongside US 17 in Southwest Jacksonville is the ruins of a ghost town called Yukon.


Yukon was a small town of about 300 that was located in Duval County before the consolidation with the City of Jacksonville.  Yukon was founded some time in the mid-19th century and was pretty much just another nameless Florida community.  Yukon had rail service and the northern extent of town was selected for Army post Camp Johnston in 1917 during World War I.

The streets of Camp Johnston were laid with brick despite it only being open until 1919.  The Florida National Guard began to use Camp Johnston in 1928.  The Navy became interested in a base near the St. Johns River and created Naval Air Station Jacksonville in 1940.  The vast majority of the military installation was moved to the east side of US 17 where it remains to this day.

Yukon in a way was fortunate that it was close to NAS JAX but it ultimately proved to be the down fall of the town.  In 1963 the town of Yukon was declared a hazard to the flight path of NAS JAX and eminent domain was declared.  All the residential structures in Yukon were removed and the former streets were allow to overgrow.  The commercial district was allowed to remain which is the only evidence of the town of Yukon if you are not willing to look back in the growth west of US 17.

Entering the ruins of Yukon on Norman Street the site of the former rail depot can be seen alongside the tracks.


Yukon is filled with obvious road grades that are starting to fill in with plant growth after half a century of neglect.










Much of the old businesses from Yukon still remain on Yukon Road.




More abandoned roads which were once lined with homes.







Stray pieces of utilities like yellow fire hydrants are still present.


The abandoned brick roads of Camp Johnston remain back in the woods but are gradually subsiding into the terrain.








I visited Yukon back in 2013, at the time it was part of some sort of regional park.  I'm unsure if Yukon Road was once part of US 17 but it should have been routed south to Punta Gorda and been in close proximity to Yukon by 1932.   Unfortunately, the only 1932 Duval County Map I could find doesn't provide insight.

1932 Duval County Map 

The 1956 State Highway Map shows US 17 running through Yukon.

1956 Florida State Highway Map


Comments

Unknown said…
This post is is somewhat incorrect. In 1938 my father in-law was assigned to Camp Blanding for military instruction(boot camp).As part of physical training recruits were assigned to build a road from Camp Blanding to Camp Johnston at Yukon Florida. Previously before the creation of Blanding Blvd. The US Army was forced to travel to Green Cove and change rail lines to Starke Florida. Then had to transport men and materials by a chain driven Mack truck. My father in law enlisted Feb.1938 for 4yrs. Unfortunately the Japanese extended his discharge till 1945. In 1942 my father flew Y2b4c's out of NavAirSta Jacksonville down to Banana River NavAirSta (now named Cape Canaveral)and back on ASW Patrol. And he participated in the search for fliht 19 in a PBY5M out of Nas Jacksonville. I am a little familiar with the area.

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River. 

New Mexico State Road 7 (Carlsbad Caverns Highway)

New Mexico State Road 7 is approximately a seven-mile highway in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County. New Mexico State Road 7 connects US Route 62/US Route 180 at Whites City to the visitor center of Carlsbad Caverns National Park via Walnut Canyon. The so-called Carlsbad Caverns Highway to the National Park visitor center complex was constructed following the designation of the namesake National Monument in 1923. The current iteration of New Mexico State Road 7 was designated by the New Mexico State Highway Commission during June 1929. A proposal once was once floated to connect New Mexico State Road 7 to a cavern drive which would have been blasted into Big Room. Part 1; the history of New Mexico State Road 7 What are now Carlsbad Caverns was explored in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County by local Jim White during 1898.  White explored the caverns via a homemade ladder and named several of the more notable rooms.  The name "Carlsbad Caverns" was derived from the