904 Area Code: Jacksonville FL — Location, Cities & Scam Guide (2026)

The business community erupted. Reprinting stationery, updating systems, and losing an identity that had been Jacksonville's since 1965 — all because a smaller region wanted to keep the incumbent code.

Largest City by Land Area in the Contiguous US

Jacksonville covers 840+ square miles — larger than New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago combined by area. This isn't because of sprawl in the traditional sense. In 1968, Jacksonville and Duval County merged in a city-county consolidation, making Jacksonville one of the only major US cities that is its county.

The consolidation was driven by corruption scandals and a desire to unify fragmented services. It means Jacksonville's city limits include dense urban cores, suburban neighborhoods, rural farmland, and Atlantic beaches — all under one government.

The Great Fire of 1901

On May 3, 1901, a spark from a mattress factory ignited Spanish moss drying on a nearby fence. Within eight hours, the fire consumed 146 city blocks, destroyed 2,368 buildings, and left nearly 10,000 people homeless — almost half the city's population. Damage totaled $15 million (approximately $2 billion in today's dollars).

It remains the third-largest urban fire in US history, after the Great Chicago Fire (1871) and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake fire. The disaster forced Jacksonville to rebuild from scratch — the Prairie School and Chicago School architecture of downtown Jacksonville today dates from this reconstruction era.

The Winter Film Capital of the World

Between 1908 and the early 1920s, Jacksonville was America's filmmaking hub — not Hollywood. Over 30 studios operated in the city, drawn by year-round sunlight, diverse landscapes (beaches, rivers, swamps, urban streets), and cheap land.

Oliver Hardy (before teaming with Stan Laurel) and Fatty Arbuckle filmed extensively in Jacksonville. The Kalem Company, Vim Comedy, and Eagle Film City were major studios based here.

So why did Hollywood win? Jacksonville's conservative mayor John T. Purroy and city council grew hostile to the film industry — objecting to car chases through city streets, scenes depicting crime, and the rowdy lifestyles of early movie stars. By 1920, most studios had relocated to the more permissive environment of southern California.

Third-Largest Military Presence in the US

The Jacksonville region hosts the third-largest military presence in the United States, contributing $6.1 billion annually to the local economy. Major installations include:

• Naval Station Mayport — one of three major Navy fleet concentration areas on the US East Coast
• Naval Air Station Jacksonville — P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft
• US Marine Corps Blount Island Command — prepositioning of maritime equipment
• Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay — nearby in Georgia, Trident submarine base

The Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) contributes an additional $31.1 billion annually to the metro economy — one of the busiest ports on the South Atlantic coast, handling containerized cargo, automobiles, and military logistics.