Jacksonville: Rail Gateway to Florida

Join the Jacksonville Historical Society and speaker Tom Schmidt Tuesday, April 26 at Old St. Andrews for a presentation on Jacksonville’s railroad history.

Engineer, educator, lawyer and “career railroader,” Tom Schmidt explores Jacksonville railroad history from its early years through the decades — now fast a[[roaching two centuries of rail travel in North Florida. This sometimes complicated, but always fascinating history includes Jacksonville’s early rail travel, the first bridge spanning the St. John’s River at Jacksonville (a train bridge), the passenger heydays of the 1920’s and much more.

About the author

Retired Vice-President of Engineering for CSX, Mr. Schmidt calls himself a “career railroader”. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in industrial engineering and received a law degree from St. Louis University Law School. After retirement from CSX, Mr. Schmidt received a masters degree in history from the University of North Florida and now teaches history at Florida State College and in UNF’s continuing education OLLIE program. He is board vice-president of the Child Guidance Center, past board chair of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and has served on the YMCA of the USA International Committee.