The Great Fire Run
Saturday, May 6
The Jacksonville Historical Society will host the 3rd Annual Great Fire Run, a 5K and 1 Mile Run to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of Jacksonville’s Great Fire of 1901.
It’s time to light a fire under your feet and sign up for the Great Fire Run, to be held Saturday, May 6, 2023. Event begins and ends at Old St. Andrew’s Church, 317 A. Philip Randolph Blvd., across from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The 5K will start at 7:30 a.m., followed by the 1 Mile Run at 8:30 a.m.
The massive conflagration occurred May 3, 1901, when a spark from a kitchen fire ignited piles of drying Spanish moss at a nearby mattress factory. The 146-block fire destroyed 2,368 buildings, left 10,000 people homeless, and killed seven residents.
The race will follow a portion of the boundaries of the Great Fire, which began at Davis and Beaver Streets, spread to most of downtown Jacksonville, and was halted by Hogan’s Creek.
(904) 665-0064 or email communications@jaxhistory.org.
