Discovering Mandarin's history and Gardens, close to home in the year of travel restrictions and social distancing.
Sandy Arpen, the Director of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society (MMHS), asked me to photographically document the remaining historic structures and views in Mandarin. For 2021, it was a perfect project. I stayed close to home and met some of the descendants from the early days of the community. Got to hear their stories and see and photograph their homes. I was assisted by the Mandarin Museum and the Mandarin Community Club and was introduced to Wayne W. Wood.
Several of the black and white images here are included in the Susan Ford and the MMHS book, “Images of America MANDARIN”. And another 20 color images of Mandarin were included in Wayne Wood’s book “Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage Bicentennial Edition”.